Trust
by Rylitah
Summary: A collection of 64 oneshots and drabbles centering around Dufort/Kiyomaro, also with Zeon and Gash brotherly love. Because every relationship has to start off with some sort of trust, no matter how small. Oneshot/drabble ratings vary from K to T.
1. 2 am

**A/N: Okay! After surfing the internet for a fanfiction prompts list that I didn't have to make a claim for, I finally found a list. It's from the livejournal community '64damn_prompts'. …I don't know if I got the name right, but it's something like that. As you can tell from the name, there shall be 64 prompts, meaning 64 chapters. …Holy crap, that's a lot of chapters. ._.;;(for me, anyway. My longest story only has about 24 chapters or so…And it's not done. But it almost is!…Once I decide to stop procrastinating and work on The Next Battle…)**

**Anyways, this entire collection of oneshots is dedicated to DaRkZeRoGaL. Her story 'Double the Help, Double the Trouble' inspired me to create this series of oneshots. :D**

**So, yeah. I'll try to update everyday or so, but there's some prompts in the list that I kind of don't get, so I may be a little late in updating those. ^^;; But we'll worry about that later.**

**The prompt today is '2 a.m'. And so, here we go~! (Hey fanfiction, why must you take away my line breaks?)**

**Prompt:**** 2 a.m  
Words(without A/N): 908****  
Rating:**** K+  
********Spoiler Alerts:**** Slight Faudo arc spoilers. Chapters 272 - 273, to be exact. :P But it's only a spoiler if you don't know who won that battle. (It's only in one line in the entire drabble, but still.)  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

The teenager struggled to stay awake. It was hard, though, with the dark room lit only by the lamp off in the corner and the pure silence. It also didn't help that he was busy and working hard all day, with school, the occasional demon battles, and just plain trying to survive. His body wanted to sleep, and he would allow it to. But not before _he _came back.

Kiyomaro already tried everything he could think of to stay awake. Pacing around the room, slapping himself a couple of times, and even Gash had acted even more hyper than usual, trying to get his human partner to stay awake. Eventually the small demon tired out and he retired to bed.

Hours ago, Zeon and Dufort had left to fight what looked like a pretty powerful demon. Zeon had told Gash to stay out of it, and Dufort said the same to Kiyomaro. The owners of the red spell book were forced to walk back to the teenager's house alone. It was a silent walk, and even the ever energetic Gash Bell seemed to be a little depressed. Not a word was exchanged between the two of them.

He knew that Gash and Zeon had a very deep brotherly bond, and if anyone had ever dared to come between them, Zeon would mercilessly rip his foes into shreds. Zeon was a very overprotective brother, and Kiyomaro was sometimes jealous of Gash, that he had someone who would look out for him like that. …But, Kiyomaro _did _have someone who was overprotective of him, didn't he? Dufort.

Whenever Megumi or Suzume or even occasionally a random man living across the street would try to make a move on Kiyomaro, Dufort would be there in a second, ready to beat the offender into a bloody pulp. Kiyomaro felt a ghost of a smile appear on his face. Dufort really did care for him, didn't he? Although he explained to the man many times that he himself and the others were simply _just friends_(Except for that man. Kiyomaro never did learn who he was…), Dufort would block out anything he said about the subject and move on to a completely different matter.

Kiyomaro shook his head in a useless attempt to fight off the drowsiness and slowly lifted his head to look at the digital alarm clock on the counter. It was almost two in the morning…He really should just go to bed. Zeon and Dufort should be back before sunrise. …But they should have already been back hours ago. Surely the powerful Zeon and Dufort duo couldn't have been…defeated? The teenager frowned at the thought. They have never been defeated before…Okay, maybe that one time at Faudo when he and Gash had managed to defeat him, but that was back when Zeon wasn't a protective brother and his goal was still to make Gash's life a living hell. Now he was a completely different person, and Kiyomaro had to admit, even if Zeon was taunting him nearly twenty four seven, he rather liked Zeon's new personality. It beat his old one by a long shot.

The teenager sighed and stood up shakily and started making his way up the stairs and to his room. If Dufort (and Zeon, he added quickly) were alright, they'd be back before he woke up later in the morning. He was almost at the top of a stairs when his sensitive ears picked up a sound. It was faint, but he couldn't deny that he most definitely heard something. Kiyomaro turned around and silently creeped back down the stairs, trying not to wake up Gash or his own mother. He cursed silently under his breath whenever his weight made the stairs creak. It wasn't that he was heavy, or anything; he was actually pretty light for his age. The house was many years old, and Kiyomaro lived in it pretty much his entire life. The stairs were just plain old. …Or so that's what Kiyomaro hoped. It was pretty much the truth, anyway.

He made it to the front door and placed his hand on the doorknob and stopped himself before he could turn it. The teenager strained his ears to hear through the door for any sign of human life. There was a grunting noise, and he was positive that there was someone standing right outside of his door. But that didn't necessarily mean it was who he hoped it to be. …But who else would be standing outside of his house at two in the morning?

Kiyomaro mustered up the courage to just turn the knob and see who was standing out there. He took a deep breath and quickly opened it. Two pairs of eyes stared at him. The large silver colored ones were a lot shorter than he was, and the person swore under his breath and shoved Kiyomaro aside before walking in the house. The other set of eyes belonged to the person who was taller than Kiyomaro, and the taller man caught him. Kiyomaro looked up at the person who currently had his arms wrapped around him, and he smiled, despite his tired state.

The fact that it was two in the morning and also he was standing half outside, half inside in his pajamas now didn't really matter. All that mattered was that the one person he stayed up all night for was finally back, and in one piece.


	2. Metaphor

**A/N: Back today with another prompt! And I was wrong yesterday. My longest story has 27 chapters, not 23...or 24...or whatever I said. But I doubt you care about that, so I'll just stop talking about it. xDD;;**

**And if I manage to do all 64 prompts, with one prompt a day, I just realized that this story will be in progress for about three months. Which means I can estimate that this story will be completed on September 24, 2010. Oh great, I'll be back to school by then. (-Goes back to school on September 7****th****-) xP But oh well. That's only if I update every day, which I hope I will. :D**

**I had a pretty hard time coming up with an idea for what to do for this prompt...In the end, I settled with just this. :P**

**Prompt: Metaphor  
****Words(without A/N): 1,258  
Rating: K  
Spoiler Alerts: No Spoilers.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

"Hey, Dufort."

The taller male looked up from the book he was reading to look at the shorter black haired teenager. Kiyomaro had both hands on his hips and had a determined look on his face. (Dufort immediately thought of a housewife about to clean the house, but he quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind and focused back on the person standing before him.) "What?"

Kiyomaro's face fell a bit, and his face started to turn a bit red. Dufort took this time to inspect the male. (The housewife idea popped up again, and he allowed himself to conjure an image of Kiyomaro wearing an apron and holding multiple cleaning materials, then shoved that back along with the previous thought. What was wrong with him today?) The thoughts that would surely get him whacked upside the head slowly crept back to the front of his mind, but Dufort managed to snap back to reality when Kiyomaro started to speak again.

"I want you to describe me."

"…Huh?"

That was the only word that Dufort thought of, and it spilled out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Kiyomaro stood straighter, and his face flushed even more. "A-ah, I'm sorry…W-was I being t-too unclear?" He laughed a bit and scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. "W-what I mean is…" Dufort frowned. What was Kiyomaro trying to say? "I want you…to describe me…I-it could be about anything, really…My personality, my appearance, a-anything, really."

"And…why do you want me to do that?" It wasn't that he was _against _the idea, he was just a bit confused, is all. Where had this come from?

The two were currently in a library, and surrounded by millions of books. Gash and Zeon were there as well; the both of them had begged to come along(well, Gash did. Zeon just gave them death threats.), and so the two humans gave in and allowed the two demons with them, on the promise that they do not speak loud, shout, yell, run around, make death threats to the librarians(this applied to Zeon mostly, but Gash picked up a lot of things from his twin brother, and that could be one of them someday), or anything of the sort.

…Of course, they didn't actually _believe _that the two troublemakers would keep their promise, but they were doing a pretty good job of it so far.

Gash was off picking out books for Zeon to read to him, pretty much only choosing books with many pictures and little words, books about fish, and those other kinds of books with the really pretty colors. Zeon complied, knowing his brother couldn't read all that well, and he also had nothing else to do. So while Gash was tossing books on the ground to read, Zeon chose a book about torture devices in the old days and settled on reading that until Gash was satisfied.

Back on the other side of the library, Kiyomaro's natural skin color slowly started to return back in his face, and the teenager pouted. "So…you don't want to?"

"I didn't say that. I'm just asking why." Dufort, for once, was honestly confused. He didn't want to settle on using his answer talker, because he made a silent vow to himself that he wouldn't use anything like that if the problem had anything to do with Kiyomaro. The urge to activate it was rising, however. Sometimes he'd like to see what went on in the teenager's mind.

"Because…" Kiyomaro paused, choosing his words carefully. He brought his finger to his bottom lip, thinking. "I just…want to know your opinion of me." The teenager said finally, shrugging his shoulders and smiling. Dufort frowned. Kiyomaro was being way too cute. He didn't like it when Kiyomaro acted that way in any public place, it could attract any unwanted attention to the shorter teenager. Dufort told him countless times to stop that, but Kiyomaro never knew what he was talking about and continued doing it.

Dufort sighed and looked away. "All right…then how should I describe you?"

"E-eh?"

"Earlier, you said I could describe you in any way I wanted to. Your personality, appearance, anything. I decided on your personality. But how should I describe that?"

"W-what do you mean…? You can't just say it?"

"No. I want to describe every last detail and explore every single personality thoroughly so I don't leave anything out." Kiyomaro's face instantly turned red again. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…Dufort's answer talker unintentionally picked up that thought, and Dufort raised an eyebrow. "You asked, and I shall answer. Now tell me, how should I describe it?"

"I-I don't know! Just…do whatever you want, I guess." Dufort sighed.

"All right. You're a walking computer, first of all."

"W-what?" Kiyomaro's face remained red, but he didn't exactly get what the older man was saying.

"You pretty much know everything. Gash told me that before I came along, you would always answer most of the questions he had instantly. You even tutored that Mizuno girl when she was having trouble with school…which was pretty much all the time. Whenever everyone has a question, you're the first thing they turn to. You're like a computer. When people have questions that they can't get a good answer from anywhere else, they use the internet to look it up. You're their equivalent." He poked Kiyomaro's stomach, and Kiyomaro instantly wrapped his own hands over the spot and took a few steps back, glaring at him, but his eyes held no malice.

"Great. I'm a fountain full of information. Anything else you want to add to that?" The blush was completely gone from the teenager's face. Now he just looked plain bored and uninterested. Dufort raised his eyebrow at the sudden change in mood, but said nothing about it. The man thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"No. That's pretty much it."

"…Okay, then. Is there any other personality traits that you'd like to describe about me?"

"I can't think of any more metaphors."

"Meta-? Why would you need to describe my personality using metaphors?"

"You said I could describe it in any way I wanted. I chose to talk about your personality traits in metaphors, but I can't think of any more."

"Why can't you just use your answer talker?"

"I refuse to use my answer talker ability in any case involving you." Dufort muttered. He never told Kiyomaro about that vow before, and the teenager was confused.

"Why?"

"I'd like to figure out everything about you by myself. Do you still want me to talk about your personality?"

"N-no, it's fine…"

Dufort stood up and held his hand out to Kiyomaro, who was sitting on a small stack of books. Kiyomaro took his hand and Dufort helped him up. The two looked around themselves, Kiyomaro because he was wondering if there was anything interesting to read, and Dufort because he was looking for Gash and Zeon. When he finally found the two twins, he poked Kiyomaro's side to grab the teenager's attention. Kiyomaro looked up at him with a questioning face, and Dufort answered his question before he could even ask it.

"We'd better get going. Gash looks like he's having trouble getting down from the ladder, and Zeon looks about ready to rip the library book in half and throw both pieces at the librarian who's trying to get Gash down's head. …Which you would be paying for, by the way. I don't have my money with me."


	3. Sky

**A/N: Gehh, I don't have much to talk about today. :P And I tried to add in more Gash and Zeon brotherly love. (: I'll try to make tomorrow's prompt longer. I don't like how short all of these current prompts are. xDD -takes a look at tomorrow's prompt but I refuse to tell you what it is just yet-**

**Prompt: Sky  
Words(without A/N): 1,198  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: Major spoilers for Faudo arc. More specifically Gash's battle with Riou. If you haven't read those few chapters and don't want to be spoiled, then I recommend skipping this oneshot for today. Specifically, it's spoilers for 215 - 216. But it still helps to know what was going on before.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

"Uwooh! The sky is so blue, Zeon! I can't see any clouds at all!"

Gash Bell ran down the large hill as fast as he could, smiling widely as the wind whipped his face and his golden hair blew wildly. Zeon, Dufort, and Kiyomaro remained at the top of the hill, watching the young demon go. Gash's twin, Zeon, had his arms crossed, with a worried look on his face. Behind him, Kiyomaro sighed.

"Are you worried he's going to roll down the hill? Don't worry, Zeon. I'm sure Gash won't trip." Zeon growled, not liking the teenager's statement. He didn't retort because that was _exactly _why he was worried, and he didn't want Kiyomaro to get the wrong(which was actually right) idea. Hearing no response from the demon, Kiyomaro grinned. "Haha. Looks like I hit the mark."

"Shut up," Zeon muttered. "Or else I'll shove that pie you're eating down your throat."

"Good. He doesn't look like he's going to finish it anyway." Dufort shrugged while Kiyomaro gave him a horrified look.

"I can finish this!" The teenager looked down to his barely-eaten dessert. "…I hope." he added under his breath before starting to take larger bites more quickly. Now it was Zeon's turn to smirk.

"I hope you choke on that."

"Go to hell, demon." Kiyomaro growled, shoving more of his dessert in his mouth.

"I already live there," Zeon shrugged. "So your threat is meaningless to me. Hey, Gash!" He paid no more attention to the 'annoying' human and his bookkeeper and called out to his twin, who was now running back up the hill. "Oh, good. You're already coming back."

Gash ran all the way back up the hill and stopped abruptly next to his brother, accidentally kicking grass on the two humans. Dufort shrugged and said nothing while he plucked the grass blades off his clothes, and Kiyomaro quickly turned to avoid Gash getting dirt on his dessert. "What is it, Zeon?"

"…Nothing." Zeon looked away. "I just didn't want you to get hurt, is all. Stay up here, okay?"

"Unuu…Okay!"

Kiyomaro turned back around after he heard what Zeon said and smirked once more. "Looks like I was right. You _do _care for Gash. Who know that someone with such a tough exterior like Zeon would actually care so much about someone?"

"Hey! He's _your_ demon, you should care about him more!" Zeon snapped at the human, who now looked simply unamused. "Aren't human and demon partners in your case supposed to have a brotherly bond? Not as strong as a brotherly bond between me and Gash, of course, but with you and Gash, you're supposed to care about him a lot more!"

"…I've had battles with demons from hell. Quite literally. And Gash was there for every single one of them. If the demons can't kill him, then I'm pretty sure running down a hill won't, either. We've survived each and every battle, and we came out even stronger with each one. The only time I can remember where we were seriously beaten is during our battle with Bari. That…That wasn't a pretty battle. But we both survived that, and we shall survive many more to come. I think you're underestimating him, Zeon."

Zeon wasn't even paying attention to Kiyomaro anymore. Instead, he was off in his own world, thinking over that 'Bari' person Kiyomaro mentioned. He remembered sneaking into the forbidden section of the library once back in Makai, and one of the books there had a list of every single demon that had ever existed, dead or alive. Why the book was in the restricted section of the library, he never knew. The only things he knew about the book was what it was about and the fact that when a new demon was born, the book would magically add their name and picture onto a free space. The pictures were updated every five minutes.

It had taken Zeon weeks to finish that book, and he had managed to memorize all of the faces of every demon alive(the book had also stated whether the demon he was reading about was alive or not), but it was only to look up any potential enemies in the future. He had found Gash(which he nearly ripped the page out of the book before he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be reading it in the first place and someone would surely notice a missing page), and even himself. If Bari was a real demon, he would remember who it was. And the name _did _sound familiar, it was just that he couldn't match it to a face. Then it hit him.

"Bari? You mean that tall blue demon with the two spike things on his head?" His question was left unanswered when he saw Gash and Kiyomaro arguing.

"That was _not _a battle we won! You nearly traumatized me after that fight!" Gash was shouting at the teenager. "You scared me! I thought you were really dead!"

"…He _was _dead, Gash." Dufort said simply. Kiyomaro may have been his enemy at Faudo, but that was the past. This was the present. He was very glad that the teenager had recovered, because if he didn't, where would he be now?

"Thank you, Dufort," Kiyomaro groaned sarcastically at the man. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Why the heck are we talking about that, anyway? I'm here now."

"Yeah, but the battle with Bari was _nothing _compared to the battle with Riou!" Gash shouted. "Riou killed you! He did, he did! At least we managed to get out of the battle with Bari when he decided to let us go after we were nearly beat into comas, but Riou wouldn't do that…! Why did you even aggravate him anyway? I thought I really lost you…" The blonde demon lowered his voice to a mere whisper, horrified to even think about that moment at Faudo. Kiyomaro sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"But…" He trailed off when he saw the other twin. "…You look mad, Zeon. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? You were completely ignoring me! And you made Gash cry!" Zeon marched over to Gash and brought his younger twin into a hug and flicked Kiyomaro's forehead. Kiyomaro instantly brought his hands over to his face and growled at the demon. "Don't make him cry again, or I'll seriously unleash all hell on you. Come on, now, Gash. I'll make sure the human doesn't bother you again."

"…Does he even know why we were shouting?" Kiyomaro asked himself under his breath. Dufort shrugged and took Kiyomaro's unfinished dessert from the teenager's lap and started eating it. "Hey! I wasn't done with that!" Dufort shrugged.

"You weren't eating it anyway."

"Are you feeling better, Gash?" Zeon asked, completely ignoring the other two. Gash slowly lifted his head and blinked his large golden eyes at his twin. Seconds later, a large smile appeared on his lips.

"Unuu! Much better! Thank you, Zeon!" The demon broke free from his brother's hug and started running down the hill again, despite his brother's protests. "Wow! Did I ever tell you guys how _blue _the sky looks today?"


	4. Lost Scene

**A/N: And here's today's prompt! Not much to talk about today, either…**

But writing this prompt amused me SO, SO MUCH.

**Prompt: Lost Scene  
Words(without A/N): 1,805  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: Very small spoilers. Nothing big, really. You should be fine, today. xDD  
Verse: Manga universe. (Most of these oneshots will take place in the manga universe, because I like the manga more. :P)**

**OoO**

Kiyomaro has never seen Dufort smile.

Sure, he's seen the man curve his lips upward in what can be considered a smile, smirk, grin, or any other synonyms of the curved shape of the mouth.

But he's never seen Dufort actually break out in a wide smile, filled with absolute joy and happiness and-okay, that was _way _out of character for a silent person like Dufort. If the man had ever smiled like that to him, Kiyomaro would believe Iwashima's crazy theory about aliens existing and be fully convinced that they had come to Earth and abducted his boyfriend and replaced him with this…scary counterpart.

It wasn't that Dufort _couldn't _laugh-, no, probably not. If he couldn't laugh or smile, then Kiyomaro would hardly consider him a human anymore. Well, Dufort _was _more special than the other humans anyway, with his answer talker ability. Of course, Kiyomaro had that ability as well, ever since the Faudo incident. Dufort just seemed more…distant.

So Kiyomaro decided to set himself up to a mission: Make Dufort laugh or smile. Preferably the former.

He wanted to do this himself, so he didn't ask Gash or Zeon. Besides, even if he asked Gash, Gash would just tell Zeon, and Zeon would simply laugh at him, saying it was impossible. Kiyomaro frowned at the thought. It should be possible, if Dufort really was human. It might take a long while, but he was sure he would be able to do it. Before the demon battle, didn't Kiyomaro used to be distant and wanted to be left alone? People declared him a lost cause. But Gash managed to bring him back. The teenager was sure he would be able to do the same to Dufort.

Kiyomaro didn't have any specific plans, and he didn't want to rely too much on his answer talker(ever since that freaky dream he had one time, it had disappeared for a while. It came back, but it was always acting weird…), so he decided to make things up as he went along.

Things, of course, did not go according to any faint plan he could have kept in the back of his head.

The day started off normally. They greeted each other and went to school together. That was normal. Gash and Zeon had snuck into school wearing large sports bags, Gash's green and Zeon's blue. That was also normal. The school day went by slowly, the teacher was going over things he didn't really understand but he was able to get the grasp of it thanks to his answer talker, and the clock was ticking so agonizingly slowly. Kiyomaro decided to pass the time by attempting to count the creases on his desk. Unfortunately, his answer talker immediately answered as soon as he asked himself that, and he inwardly groaned. He couldn't control his ability as well as Dufort could…

He then decided to secretly flip through the spell book. No new spells, but that was to be expected. The battle was already over, and there were no new spells to be learnt. How boring. After five minutes that seemed like five seconds in the time it took him to flip over his book, he placed the spell book back in his desk and leaned his cheek on the palm of his hand. Maybe he could doze off and not get caught…

That's when he felt that something was…odd.

He looked around the classroom. Kiyomaro felt that someone was watching him, and not in the 'what the hell are you doing?' way. Multiple heads turned his way when they saw that Kiyomaro was looking around the classroom, and they also looked around, looking for whatever the Takamine kid was looking for. The teacher eventually noticed and snapped at them all in order to get their attentions back and he proceeded to continue the less. Kiyomaro ended up ignoring his teacher's orders and continued looking around the room until he found out who was staring at him.

Dufort.

Why he didn't expect that sooner or why the answer talker never answered him(though he could give a pretty good guess that it had something to do with that dream he had a couple of months ago…) he didn't know. The only thing that was on is mind is 'Oh my God why is Dufort looking at me why is no one else noticing it why is today going so painfully slow' and he was running a million questions a second in his mind, so quickly that the answer talker couldn't answer any of them(not that it could answer any of those questions, anyway).

Dufort's lips were curved up in what could be assumed a grin. Kiyomaro inwardly groaned(he wanted to see Dufort smiling a real smile, not a fake small smile like the one that was currently on his face), why the heck was Dufort staring at him? The teenager's face turned red and he looked away, not liking the attention during class. What if people noticed? His blush disappeared and he looked around the classroom again, no, no one was noticing Dufort's staring. Why did no one pay attention at the most important times?

He decided to completely ignore the other and brought his arm out in front of his face, so close he could see the veins inside his body. Kiyomaro took a deep breath and started trailing them with his eyes from the top of his wrist to the bottom of his elbow(who knew he would resort to looking at his own veins in order to pass time at school?), and over again until he felt someone tugging at his leg.

"I know your plan, Kiyomaro." Gash whispered. For some reason, no one heard the usually loud little boy. Why didn't they? Kiyomaro almost groaned again when the small demon interrupted his thoughts. "You want to make Dufort smile." The teenager felt his ears turn red and he leaned down to whisper in the teenager's ear.

"How did you know that?"

"You talk in your sleep." Zeon answered, not bothering to lower his voice to a whisper, knowing completely well that everyone around them could hear him. Kiyomaro could practically _feel _the redness of his ears spread to his cheeks. Oh great. But he never knew he talked in his sleep before. How come Gash never talked to him about that?

_Because he's a considerate demon,_ the answer talker immediately responded, but Kiyomaro pushed that answer to the back of his head, not feeling very comfortable with the situation.

"Um…yes." Gash coughed, still whispering. "Anyway, I know how you can make Dufort smile!"

"How?"

"Because Dufort pretty much rambles off about everything he'd like to do with or to you." Zeon, once again with the blunt replies. Kiyomaro felt his face heat up even more, and it was because of this damned demon! "And he also talks about the stuff he'd like to see you in."

"…In?" Kiyomaro's voice came out as a small whimper. Great. Dufort probably wanted him to cross dress or something. Which would include wearing a dress. Or maybe he would like seeing him in a maid outfit? The thought of himself dressing like a maid immediately sprang to mind, and he slammed his face on his desk. No one seemed to notice, and even if they did, they most likely didn't care. _It's probably that Zeon kid again_, they'd be thinking. Oh yes, Zeon embarrassed Kiyomaro pretty much the entire school day. It wasn't uncommon.

"Unuu!" Gash smiled. "And Zeon had to listen to everything, because deep down in his heart, he really cares for him, and he wouldn't make him be quiet, because Zeon knows that Dufort truly loves you. And that's why Zeon's willing to help you!"

"It's actually because the thought of Dufort actually smiling amuses me." Zeon looked away. "And hell, if I get to see you obeying Dufort's every command, then that's just an extra bonus for me."

"Wait, what?" Kiyomaro squeaked. He didn't like the sound of this at all. Why, oh why, do his plans like backfiring on him?

"Yeah…The top thing on Dufort's list is you dressing up and acting like a maid." Gash said, smiling sheepishly. Kiyomaro slammed his face in the desk again. Wait, he was really right about the maid thing? No way. He was not going to dress up as a maid. Not now, and not anytime soon! The thought was simply too much to handle, and Kiyomaro thought for a second that his answer talker might break or disappear again.

Zeon started laughing like an evil genius. A small, tiny evil genius. And being a demon just added to the 'creepy/scary' factor. Kiyomaro now officially hated his life. "Hehe. And we requested the help of your Suzume friend. She bought the dress for us, because two little 'kids' buying something like that would be really awkward for us to the public eye. So, she'll be giving it to us, and we'll be giving it to you. How does that sound?"

"No!" Kiyomaro shouted and shot up from his desk and slammed his hands down. Even the teacher seemed surprised. Yes, Kiyomaro did have a bad habit of talking to his small friends during class, but completely losing it and shouting out was new. The teenager now noticed that he had the attention of the entire class now. "…May I be excused?"

"Is it Zeon?" the teacher groaned.

"It's Zeon." Kiyomaro sighed in reply.

"You may go." Kiyomaro was out of the room not a second later.

**OoO**

"I hate you two."

He wasn't sure how they did it, but they managed to force him into the dress anyway. Kiyomaro had his hands balled into fists, but he couldn't risk hitting either Gash or Zeon, because no matter who he hit, Zeon would end up breaking both of his arms. The three were currently in a closet. The two younger boys snickered to themselves as they stared up at Kiyomaro in the maid's uniform. Dufort was standing outside of the closet, waiting for whatever surprise the boys told them they had.

Kiyomaro placed his hand on the doorknob and quickly opened the door, lowering his head as he did so. There he stood in awkward silence in front of Dufort. A few minutes later, something rang throughout the air. It sounded…odd, in a way, but…Kiyomaro couldn't quite describe it. The teenager looked up and saw Dufort…_laughing. _Actually _laughing._

He did it!

Sure, he had to sacrifice his dignity along they way, but he did it, and he couldn't help but feel accomplished. The teenager then felt himself being dragged into a hug with the older male.

"I hate you." Kiyomaro muttered, though everyone knew he didn't mean it. Dufort's (albeit weird) laughter finally settled.

"I love you, too."


	5. Degrees

**A/N: I spent most of today singing songs for choruses on YouTube. I ended up only submitting one. LOL. But I really like how it turned out~ I'll give you the link in the next chapter if you're interested, though I'd doubt it. xDD**

**And…This one has more Zeon and Gash than Dufort/Kiyomaro. D: But I tried making up for it at the end, aha.**

**Prompt: Degrees  
Words(without A/N): 1,203  
Rating: T (For Dufort's comment at the end…)  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

"It's got to be like a hundred and fifty freaking degrees in here."

Zeon grumbled. He would have felt better if they took him to the community pool or a beach or something, but no. They were stuck in the Botanical Garden because Gash wanted to check up on his plant, which he was taking forever to find. It wasn't that he was mad at Gash, oh no. He was more mad at Kiyomaro for _allowing _them all to be dragged into the greenhouse.

"Stop complaining. I'd rather be here than inside." Kiyomaro grumbled, eating his ice cream that he brought from his house. Dufort was munching on his own ice pop next to him, and Gash was all happily eating his frozen treat. Zeon was the only one that didn't have one. Since Kiyomaro held the ice cream, he absolutely refused to give one to the demon until he calmed down and stopped whining about the heat. So what if Zeon threatened him?

"I'd rather be in the air conditioned house than out here in this greenhouse being melted so easily like a freaking little ice pop!" Zeon shouted. Some of the older people visiting the Botanical Garden gasped at the child's horrific use of the language, but the demon obviously didn't care what they thought. He could say anything he wanted to, and no one was going to confront him about it less they wished for their heads to be ripped off. …Except for Gash. Gash was the only exception.

Kiyomaro groaned inwardly. Zeon was being even more snappier than usual, but no matter what, they still would've ended up at the Botanical Garden. If Kiyomaro had refused Gash's proposal to go to the garden, Zeon would have appeared and threatened him into taking Gash there, then Dufort would get in the mix when Zeon commands him to Zakeru Kiyomaro, then it would turn out into an all-out brawl. Things were actually pretty better this way.

But that didn't make it any more bearable.

"Oh my GOD. I am DYING." Zeon groaned and turned to Kiyomaro. "At least give me a damn ice pop! It'll help somewhat in cooling me off."

"Not until you stop complaining and whining. Until then, I'll hold your ice pop. If it melts, then…it sucks to be you, doesn't it?" Kiyomaro grinned mischievously. Zeon turned to Dufort, not saying anything but asking all the same. Dufort sighed and gave in to Zeon's silent question.

The man walked behind Kiyomaro and pulled the ice pop out of the hand behind his back and threw it to Zeon, who caught it and violently ripped off the cover and completely engulfing the entire ice pop in a matter of five seconds flat. The teenager who had been robbed of the previously uneaten ice pop had his mouth open agape in shock; what the hell? Dufort looked at him and took the ice cream from Kiyomaro's hands and started eating it, even though he didn't finish his own.

"What the hell, Dufort? Give it back, I wasn't done!"

Zeon in the meantime simply threw the empty plastic wrapper at a random plant, no really caring where it goes or what happens to it. No one saw him, but perhaps they were lucky that they didn't. The demon started walking up to his brother(who had found his plant by now), and tapping his shoulder. "Hey, Gash."

"Unuu? What is it, Zeon?" His brother turned around, happy golden eyes wide open, his mouth curved in a wide smile. The sight made Zeon smile a little as well. There was nothing in the world he liked(or possibly even loved…) more than his brother. Apparently Gash had also found his plant, and Zeon looked around his twin to see it.

The green plant was very healthy, its stem was standing up straight, and it was already blossoming into a beautiful flower. Gash took very good care of it, and the fact that he dragged everyone to this wretched place on the hottest day to end all hot days just simply proved how much he cared for that little plant. Zeon faintly wanted to see how tall the plant would get when it reaches its full potential.

"How about we head home now? It's really hot in here. And your plant looks like its doing fine. It has to be a LOT cooler outside. Come on, let's go." Gash frowned a bit, and Zeon quickly started rephrasing what he said over and over again in his mind, trying to find what he said wrong. It _was _what he said, right?

"…My plant is sick." The younger twin said softly, lowering his head. Zeon was confused.

"Huh? It looks fine to me."

"It hasn't grown at all in the past few weeks…I think I'm doing something wrong." Gash said, his voice quivering. Zeon sighed, he just didn't have the time for a stupid plant like this.

"Gash, all plants take a long time to grow. You can't just plant it and expect it to be fully grown the very next day."

"But I didn't-"

"Yes, I know you didn't plant it yesterday. But think about it. Your plant is probably taking its time to grow, and if you be patient, your plant shall become the largest plant in this horrible, horrible garden." The blonde looked up at his silver haired twin and the two stared in silence(or as silent as a Botanical Garden could get, anyway…) for a few minutes until Gash broke it.

"…Okay. I trust Zeon." He turned back to his plant. "Don't worry, Zeon says that you will become the biggest plant in this entire place! Just wait a little while, okay?" The demon patted the plant's stem softly and placed it back in its original spot where it stays when Gash isn't there. "Okay." He rose from his sitting position, and turned to face Zeon. "Let's go!"

When the two got back to where they left their human partners, they found Dufort kneeling off in the corner of the greenhouse while Kiyomaro was holding both ice creams and eating both of them.

"What the hell happened here?" Zeon asked, not really caring. Gash didn't know what was going on in the first place, so he was very confused.

"I'm eating Dufort's ice cream." Kiyomaro said plainly, licking more of the ice cream off the cone.

"…Uh huh. I can see. My question is why."

"Because he tried to eat mine. So now I'm eating his." Kiyomaro shrugged and continued eating the man's treat. "So, are we all ready to go?"

"Unuu!" Gash chirped happily. "We're ready!"

"All right, then. Dufort, you can get up now." Kiyomaro told the older male, who quickly stood up again. The group of four started walking off in the direction of the exit, which wasn't very far away.

"You know," Dufort started while looking at Kiyomaro. The teenager paused his eating of the ice cream and turned his head to look back at the older man. "I can think of so many things when I see you eating your ice cream like that."

Dufort ended up walking home with half his face covered in vanilla ice cream.


	6. Seize the Day

**A/N: …I'd be lying if I say I didn't use something from Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni in this chapter. Seriously. That series is awesome.**

**But the Punishment Game from the Game Club was so awesome, I just had to use it in this chapter. …Actually, that entire series is awesome. But the Punishment Games are one of the things I love most about it. That, and the fact that my favorite character loses pretty much all the time. xDD**

**Anyways…**

**Prompt: Seize the Day  
Words(without A/N): 1,607  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

It started off as a simple game, really.

Gash had tagged Zeon and said he was 'it', though the silver haired demon had no idea what his twin meant by that. And so, Gash had to explain the rules of the game 'tag' to his brother and promptly tagged him again not a second after he finished telling Zeon how to play and ran off immediately. Zeon allowed a mischievous smirk to form across his face and started to chase after his brother.

Eventually, Dufort and Kiyomaro walked out of the house to check up on them and found the two playing tag. The two males decided to just stand around and talk to each other, occasionally glancing at the two demons playfully running around the front yard.

"Hey, Kiyomaro!"

The blonde child ran up to the teenager and grinned up at him. Kiyomaro raised an eyebrow, wondering what Gash had wanted with him. "Let's play a game!"

Kiyomaro immediately refused. "No. You're already playing with Zeon, aren't you?" Gash stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

"But I want to play with Kiyomaro and Dufort…Tag isn't nearly as exciting with just two people…"

"I agree, this is kind of boring." Zeon spoke as he walked into the group uninvited, but of course the silver haired demon could hardly care less. "So let's make it more interesting, shall we? How about whoever gets tagged has to stay it, and they continue chasing the people who haven't been tagged yet. We'll continue to play until there's only one person left, and whoever the one person is will decide on a punishment on everyone else for losing."

"But isn't that not fair for the first person to be it?" Gash asked, turning to his brother. Zeon brought his hand to his chin in thought, and continued thinking before he snapped his fingers and smiled.

"Okay, I got it. How about whoever is it first has to keep being it until they tag someone? Whoever gets tagged first will be it and has to be it for the rest of the game, while the person who was originally it doesn't get to be it anymore. But if the person who was originally it gets tagged, then they lose and has to remain it for the remainder of the game. Okay?"

"Unuu! That sounds about right!"

"Fine, I'll play." Kiyomaro sighed and turned to Dufort. "You're playing too, whether you want to or not and I assume you don't want to, but I honestly don't care and therefore I am forcing you to play because I really do not want to go through this alone." He said all of that in one breath while Dufort didn't even flinch. "And we should decide on a time limit, in case there are two people left who keeps managing to dodge the people who are it."

Zeon scoffed. "Chances are, the people who'd be running away still would be me and Gash. You weak humans can't keep up with our speed, so it's already obvious who's going to win, and both of them are standing right in front of you."

"…Right." Kiyomaro dismissed the short demon sarcastically and waved his hand to prove his (sarcastic) point. "So…How long?"

"I'd say about ten minutes." Dufort said, finally saying something for the first time in a while.

"I guess that sounds just about reasonable. Any objections? No? Okay, then who will be it first?" The black haired teenager didn't give anyone a chance to object. He wanted to get this game over with as quickly as possible.

"Hm…I'd like to be it!" Gash raised his hand and waved it around frantically. Zeon gasped dramatically and forced his brother's hand down.

"What are you doing, Gash?" Zeon asked, trying not to sound enraged. "Why would you want to be it? Do you really want to go through a punishment?"

"N-no, not really…But it doesn't matter because I won't be it for the entire game…Instead, I'd only it temporarily until I tag someone!" Gash smiled happily. Zeon nearly smacked himself for forgetting that fact, but he wanted to be as strong as possible and he definitely did not want to give Kiyomaro any reasons to taunt him.

"All right then. Gash, count to ten. We'll all run as far away as we can in the meantime." Kiyomaro said, getting ready to run off. Everyone else did the same, though the teenager noted that Dufort looked kind of weird in a running position…He realized that he had never really see the man run. Dufort always seemed like the slow type of guy, one to want to always walk the Earth and not rush and run through it. Kiyomaro shrugged it off and focused on Gash's countdown.

"Ready…Go!" All three males ran off as quick as they could, all running in completely different directions.

"One, two, three, uh…six, seventeen, twenty five…Hrm…Sixty two, three-wait no, I said three already. …Three, six, seventeen…"

**OoO**

Zeon hid behind a nearby tree, waiting for Gash to count to ten, but he quickly found out that his brother was having a hard time in counting just to ten. The silver haired demon turned so that Gash couldn't see him and shouted; "It's okay, Gash! More than ten seconds passed, you can run now!" The sound of feet thumping against the ground told Zeon that Gash had started moving. The sound of feet thumping against the ground getting fainter and fainter told Zeon that Gash wasn't going near him, which was good.

He turned to see who Gash was going after, and snickered to himself when he saw his twin brother chasing after Kiyomaro, who was the only one who couldn't find a proper place to hide. Not that a hiding place would help the human anyway; if Gash was stuck and couldn't find anyone, he'd use his powerful nose to sniff them out. Being around Kiyomaro the most would mean that the teenager would have been the first target anyway.

The sound of two people shouting proved that someone was caught, and Zeon could safely assume that it was Kiyomaro. Seconds later, Gash ran into him, knocking them both out in plain sight. Zeon would have yelled at his brother, but then he quickly collected his thoughts on exactly _who _had ran into him, and he stopped himself before any words could come out. The demon looked up to see who Kiyomaro was chasing, and saw that the human was chasing Dufort, who was hiding behind the house.

Seeing Dufort run was a pretty new sight to Zeon, and Zeon quickly realized how _weird _his bookkeeper looked when running, and he instantly figured out why his spell caster never ran much. No matter how many times he would see Dufort run after this, he would never get used to it. That much he was certain of.

He then remembered where he was and grabbed Gash's arm and hid both his brother and himself behind the tree again, and sighed in relief when he noticed that Kiyomaro had never noticed them out in the open.

Zeon looked back around the tree and saw Kiyomaro attempt to tackle Dufort, but ended up completely missing and Dufort got away. Kiyomaro quickly picked himself up and started sprinting for the other male again, but Dufort was faster than the teenager(Zeon would have never guessed), and so Kiyomaro made absolutely no progress in chasing the other. Instead, he was falling behind more and more.

Zeon assumed that about five minutes had passed, and he smirked widely. Wow. It'd be pretty funny if Kiyomaro were the only person to be it in five more minutes. He continued to watch the human's pathetic attempts to tag his partner.

Next to him, Gash frowned. Wasn't Kiyomaro normally faster than this? His human partner had certainly proved to gain unreasonable bursts of speed when running for something he really cared about, so then…That must be that Kiyomaro didn't really care about the game? The demon's frown grew. He should care, since he was going to get punished after the game, no matter who else gets tagged.

"Wow…He's not even going after us. This is such an easy win." Zeon laughed softly.

A few minutes had passed, and Kiyomaro had still not tagged anyone, nor had he even thought about going after the two twins. Even if he did think of that, the twins were much faster than he was. Kiyomaro sighed. There was absolutely no way he could catch anyone, since he was the slowest person of the group. He groaned. Who would have guessed that Dufort would be _faster _than him? The man hardly ever ran!

So he sat there on the grass, waiting for the time to run out. About a minute later, Dufort came out from behind the house again. "Time's up." Kiyomaro didn't even need to ask if he used his answer talker as a timer.

Zeon and Gash had walked out of the tree they were hiding behind, and the three survivors(in which were there from the very beginning) surrounded Kiyomaro in a triangle.

"Okay…What's the punishment?"

"You have to do whatever Gash and I say for the rest of the day." Zeon smirked when Kiyomaro groaned, though the human kind of deserved that when he practically gave up in the middle of the game.

"While wearing this." Dufort walked inside the house and came back out a minute later holding a dress. Zeon and Gash immediately burst into laughter while Kiyomaro merely glared at the man.

"And where the hell did you get that?"

"…I have methods."


	7. Opposites

**A/N: This prompt was very easy to do. -points to prompt name- I don't think I have to explain why. xDD**

**Hm…I'm not sure if I made the ending clear enough. ^^;; If you're confused, just tell me and I'll do my best to fix it, though I tried my best already…**

**Prompt: Opposite  
Words(without A/N): 1,333  
Rating: K  
Spoiler Alerts: Spoilers if you don't already know about Dufort's past.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

Anybody could immediately tell that Dufort and Kiyomaro were complete opposites, even if they didn't know them.

The two males were usually seen arguing with each other(well, it was more like Kiyomaro shouting angrily at the older man, because the other pretty much never responded) wherever they went. Usually, when the two came near anyone, the adults had to quickly cover any nearby children's ears, whether they were their own child or not. The shorter, younger teenager always used so many obscenities, even the older people had never heard of them.

The older man, Dufort, usually curved his lips up a bit in a smirk, though it was hard to see if you were far away. He seemed like the wiser one of the two who always thought things through, while Kiyomaro was the one who would rush into things if he was provoked enough, which he usually was when it came to dealing with Dufort.

Dufort hardly ever talked, so Kiyomaro was the one who had to do the talking for the both of them. Even if someone had asked Dufort personally a question, it was always Kiyomaro who had to answer instead, because he knew the other wouldn't talk. If someone asked Kiyomaro a question, either Kiyomaro would quickly answer them as fast as he could, or he was too late and Dufort had sent the person spiraling a few feet away with a well-aimed punch to the jaw…which happened more often than not. Though oddly, Kiyomaro never seemed to be bothered. Dufort would never say anything at all during his attack.

Kiyomaro liked to walk, but he would run if he really needed to, or even if he simply felt like it. Dufort, however, would never run, no matter how pressed for time he was. The man always walked and seemed as if he had all the time in the world, as if wherever he was going would wait for him as long as needed. People were scared of him, anyway, so they would allow the man to do whatever he want and take all the time he need. Kiyomaro was a completely different case, for if he were ever late for something important, such as school, he would be penalized and shouted at immediately. It was then that Dufort would seemingly pop out of nowhere and simply _stare _at the offender until they gave in and apologized to Kiyomaro, and Dufort would disappear before the teenager even had time to blink and ask what was going on.

Sometimes Dufort would go away with Zeon for something important, and it was then that the older teenagers would target Kiyomaro as their daily prey, knowing that his so called 'body guard' was off somewhere and therefore couldn't save him. So then after school they'd corner the younger teenager on the roof, and even before they beat him up for the fun of it, somebody would strike all of their necks and they'd fall down in an unconscious heap. Kiyomaro would be simply shocked at his fortunate stroke of luck and look up smiling brightly at his savior, only to be astonished when he sees Dufort standing over him and inspecting him to make sure that he wasn't hurt. Zeon would be behind him, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for his bookkeeper to finish his business so they could teleport back to wherever they were before. Kiyomaro simply couldn't believe his luck sometimes. Dufort had always considered himself unlucky, until he met Kiyomaro.

Dufort didn't really have to go to school, but he did for the sake of Kiyomaro, who absolutely refused to drop out. Even if the teenager was one of the smartest humans in the world thanks to his answer talker ability, he didn't want to leave behind the building with his teachers and friends, and Dufort, even equipped with the answer talker, could never figure out for the life of him why. Kiyomaro simply confused him too much, and even his all-powerful answer talker could never answer some of the questions about the short teenager.

Kiyomaro was outgoing, and he made friends easily. Dufort was secluded, and he only talked to the people he really trusted and simply give the cold shoulder to anyone who wanted to be friends with him all of a sudden. Their demons were different, too. Gash had almost the same personality as Kiyomaro, but he was a lot more happier and energetic, while Zeon was almost like Dufort, except he was more cruel and talked a lot more.

Dufort hated it whenever anyone, ally or not, tried to get close to Kiyomaro, though Kiyomaro could never figure out why. It wasn't like they were going to hurt him or anything. The only exceptions were demon enemies and those bullies that threatened to harm him and trapped him on the school top the other day. But Kiyomaro knew that Dufort was never comfortable around other people, and so whenever anyone tried to get close to him, he would shoo them off.

Kiyomaro could not control his answer talker, but Dufort most definitely could. Multiple times the teenager had asked the older man to teach him how to use it properly, but every single time, Dufort refused. That, or he simply ignored him, which he was doing more often when they got on the subject of the answer talker. Kiyomaro never understood why Dufort wouldn't teach him how to use it, but really, the answer wasn't all that complicated. It was simply because Dufort wanted him to master it by himself, just like he did in that horrible, horrible research lab he lived in when he was a child.

Dufort had an awful childhood, but Kiyomaro lived a pretty normal one. Kiyomaro was surrounded by many friends who supported him(those same friends who then shunned him when they found out he was different…), and Dufort had no one to talk to but those darned scientists who kept on asking him those annoying questions. But if Kiyomaro didn't have to live his pre-teen years alone, then he never would've gotten so close to Gash, which would have eventually meant that he wouldn't have gotten so close to Dufort. If the scientists had never abandoned Dufort and abandoned him in the North Pole, then he would have never met Zeon, which meant that he would have never met Kiyomaro.

Nobody really knew how the two males got along so well, though if they even tried to bother about understanding their pasts and how similar they were, they would have understood perfectly. Though most decided to just pay attention to their differences, which was very obvious. It was true that they were very different, but they were the same in the fact that they both shared an important part of their pasts, the demon battle. It was really because of that battle that everything had fallen into place, and no matter how horrible Kiyomaro thought the battle was, if it really weren't for that, Dufort probably would have been dead, frozen somewhere in the North Pole, and Kiyomaro himself, having absolutely no one to talk, probably would have slowly succumbed to a sort of insanity.

The two really had to thank Gash and Zeon for that, bringing them together. Even if the twins didn't mean for it to be this way, this was the best possible outcome of their entire lives. The brothers couldn't even imagine the gratitude the two secretly felt for them. But Gash and Zeon were different, too, and that didn't stop them from working so well with each other.

Some people couldn't believe that Kiyomaro and Dufort were together, and if they ever questioned, they(though it was mostly Kiyomaro) would tell them to look at Gash and Zeon. If those two could set aside their differences, why couldn't they?

Because sometimes it's important to just focus on what they share, rather than how they differ. The similarities can sometimes make up for all the differences.


	8. Passions Run

**A/N: Ha...HaHA! I managed to think of an idea for today's prompt without anything getting…er…never mind. But I feel so proud of myself now. -3-**

**This chapter is kind of like the last one, except…This one is more about Dufort. Plus, this chapter is also shorter. -.-;; I'll try to make tomorrow's chapter longer.**

…**Ohey, Invader Zim's on. -tries not to get distracted-**

**Prompt: Passions Run  
Words(without A/N): 1,027  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: More Gash vs. Riou spoilers. I already warned this in a previous chapter, but…just in case.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

Kiyomaro and Dufort didn't really care all that much about public display of affection(well, Kiyomaro did, but since when did Dufort ever listen to the younger male?).

It didn't matter where they were; if Dufort felt like he wanted to kiss Kiyomaro, then damn it, he would do so no matter who was around. Even Zeon's jeers and Gash's sickly noises wouldn't stop him, because he didn't really care what the two demons felt about it. Besides, he was the oldest one of the four, which meant that he should be the one to boss them all around…Though Zeon wouldn't like it if he bossed Gash around, and the silver haired demon and Kiyomaro were the ones who bossed him himself around anyway. Though it was probably for the better that Kiyomaro wasn't really a submissive person…(because if he was, Dufort would have no idea what he would do, accidentally or not, to the young teenager.)

What Dufort liked about Kiyomaro(one of the many things) was that Kiyomaro absolutely refused to listen to orders he didn't approve of. The man secretly worried that the teenager wouldn't listen to other people's demands even if there were a gun pointed at his head, which could very well be reality thanks to the horrors of the demon battle. If his answer talker could stop time, he would be able to save Kiyomaro quickly if that were to ever happen…Yes. Why _couldn't _his answer talker stop time? It could do everything else. …Well, it couldn't shoot lasers or anything.

…Though shooting lasers out of his eyes _would _be cool, the man had to admit. If he could do that, he'd probably freak the hell out of Zeon(and more likely Kiyomaro). Gash would most likely widen his eyes in awe and ask him how he could do that.

But this is getting off topic. Dufort knew that he wasn't the only one who had his eyes set on Kiyomaro(though he was the only one who had actually gotten this close to him), so he had to make sure he proved that Kiyomaro was already taken constantly in front of people so they would know. Though it would be easier if they could just put two and two together…Dufort _was _the only person Kiyomaro constantly hung out with, besides Gash. Everyone knew that the teenager wouldn't go within five miles of Zeon willingly, but being with Dufort was worth it.

Even though everyone knew they were together, Dufort still silently threatened everyone whenever he felt that they were getting too close to Kiyomaro. Kiyomaro would always sigh and tell him to stop, but Dufort would always shake his head and squeeze the young teenager in a tight hug, acting as if Kiyomaro wasn't near him at all times and within arms length, then he would go away forever. He never said that out loud, but Kiyomaro somehow always knew what he was thinking, and rolled his eyes, yet he always had a smile on his face.

If they were in the middle of the battle, Dufort would most definitely risk his life and jump in front of an attack that was headed for Kiyomaro if they had to. Of course, he never spoke that aloud either. He knew that Kiyomaro was most definitely capable of handling himself, but the man couldn't help but worry. Kiyomaro was a very strong person, despite his lanky and skinny figure(which Dufort thought that simply proved the old saying, 'Don't judge a book by its cover'…Hm. Kiyomaro would most definitely resemble a book…), but before he and Zeon joined their group, and even now, he never got out of a battle unharmed. It was just worrisome.

The possibility of being killed in a demon battle was _very _possible if you weren't careful, and Kiyomaro proved that once. He wasn't there when it happened, but he was in the control room, filled with many video screens that showed what was going on around the insides of Faudo. Dufort remembered the whole ordeal being pretty boring, with nothing to do but just watch the intruders. Of course, they (Zeon and Dufort) were intruders as well at the time, hiding behind a pillar, waiting for Riou to return from his battle with Gash so that they could take over. Yeah…Riou was a huge idiot, not noticing them holding on to his hair.

One of the monitoring screens showed most of the intruders trying to break down a wall. Another screen had shown what was inside the room being covered with the wall, which happened to be the exact room where Gash was fighting Riou. That room was also the same room where Kiyomaro was killed. Dufort felt that he should have been a bit glad that he didn't know Kiyomaro all that well at the time, or who knows what he may have done. But since Gash had somehow revived him(which gave the young teenager his answer talker ability in the process), maybe he should repay the little demon someday.

But that day wouldn't arrive for a while, because he just wasn't the type of person to thank somebody, no matter what they did for him.

So Dufort had to hog the teenager all to himself, knowing that even though the demon battle was months over, there were still a handful of demons who wanted the throne for themselves and attempted to defeat the king and his human partner…which just so happened to be Kiyomaro. Someday, the teenager could be ripped forcefully away from him…and he most definitely didn't want that.

He knew that Kiyomaro knew he loved him, but Dufort still liked to remind him by smothering him with tight hugs and kisses. The kisses always turned Kiyomaro's face bright red, and he always looked away. He was cute when he did that, and so Dufort made sure to do it often, no matter how embarrassed Kiyomaro was whenever it happened, because there was always one of his other friends around.

But Dufort didn't care, because Kiyomaro was his, and his alone. And no one was going to take him away, not if he had anything to say about it.


	9. Connection

**A/N: Back with another prompt filled! For once, this actually takes place in the Anime universe. It's slightly AU in the fact that Kiyomaro died and has the answer talker. Those are the only two things I'm using from the manga.**

**And I actually have something to say today for once.**

…**Will you listen to my singing? ^^;; I'd like actual feedback on it…Other than saying that I have bad microphone quality (I'm getting a new, better one soon). I'd just like any other tips you can give me. :D Oh, and my voice may sound a bit…young, I guess(for lack of a better word), but that's because of my age. I hope it'll sound more…mature, when I age more. xDD I'd say it sounds like I'm 12...I'm not 12. I'm older than that, I can assure you. xD**

**http : / www . soundboard . com/sb/Bweep . aspx**

**Thank you, if you decide to check it out. xDD**

**Anyways, in this chapter, we actually get a setting, finally! This one focuses more on Kiyomaro's thoughts, then Dufort's(though it starts off being Dufort's thoughts, it turns into Kiyomaro's.).**

**And we also get more Zeon/Gash brotherly love! Yay! It's been like…three days since we last had that. xDD**

**Prompt: Connection  
Words(without A/N): 1,059  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Anime universe. (For once!)**

**OoO**

Dufort could feel a sort of connection to the young teenager, a connection different of that of just a regular mutual relationship between two bookkeepers for the demon battle.

He felt as if Kiyomaro could get close to him in ways no other being, human or demon, had ever done before and will in the future. There was just something about the teenager that struck him speechless, and he wasn't sure what it was. It could be his eyes, ones that were so fierce and determined in battle. Yet whenever Kiyomaro had his eyes on Dufort, those very same eyes could be full of many different emotions. Sometimes they were dulled and hazy whenever Dufort wanted to hold him close, sometimes they were sharp whenever Dufort did something Kiyomaro disapproved of, or whenever he embarrassed him in front of anyone.

Which happened a lot more often than the teenager would have liked(not that he ever liked it in the first place).

The two were currently sitting on the bench at the park, watching Gash and Zeon run around the slide playing another game of tag. Kiyomaro had force them to promise that they wouldn't drag himself and Dufort into their game again, because chances are, if it involved running(which it most definitely would), then he would immediately lose. Zeon would most likely bring up the punishment game again, and Kiyomaro definitely did not want to do _that _again.

Last time he lost, he had to do whatever the three winners commanded him to do. It was more like Zeon ordering him around like a lowly slave and Dufort making Kiyomaro act like a female(the dress didn't help the teenager's case when he protested), and Gash hardly ever did anything, which Kiyomaro was very thankful for.

The teenager placed his chin in the palm of his hand; how could Gash and Zeon be any more different? Their personalities clashes violently, and you could easily tell the two apart, even though they were identical twins with the exact same height. Their eye color was different, and hell, even their hair colors were different. If the two didn't look like a discolored mirror image of each other, Kiyomaro would have never expected that they were related.

But they weren't totally different in personalities; they both loved each other a lot. Not in the romantic sense(Kiyomaro would absolutely freak out if that were to ever happen; he suspected Zeon might love his twin brother as _more _than just a brother, but if Gash were to return the feelings, he would probably faint.), of course, but in a very deep, brotherly bond kind of way.

Whereas it was the complete opposite with the relationship between Kiyomaro and Dufort. They weren't related, no, far from that. Kiyomaro jokingly said once that if he were related to anyone like Dufort, he'd probably go insane from trying to get him to talk more. Dufort (not so jokingly) said back that if he ever _were _related to Kiyomaro, he'd manage to get the teenager to stop annoying him by kissing him fully on the lips whenever Kiyomaro annoyed him, no matter how weird it would seem to the public if they were brothers(which Kiyomaro was oh so very _glad _that they weren't). Kiyomaro didn't touch the subject after that.

It could give Zeon ideas, and that was the last thing Kiyomaro wanted. Who knew what Gash would say if Zeon ever kissed him on the lips in more than just a brotherly thing? Kiyomaro would probably tug at his hair all day and night, because no matter how close the two brothers were, he was very sure that they would never stoop to that kind of deepness.

Which then made him question his own relationship with Dufort. They already had an existing connection by both being spell casters for demons participating in the demon battle, but they also shared a (almost non-existent) bond by being the only two humans in the entire world(There may be more, Kiyomaro thought, but it was highly unlikely. Chances are, if there were more people with the answer talker ability, then they would be a bookkeeper. And bookkeepers pretty much _always _wound up at his doorstep, picking for a fight. It was kind of tiring.) that had the answer talker.

Kiyomaro wasn't sure how Dufort gained his ability. According to the man himself, he had it ever since he was a child. But Dufort also said that if a man died and was brought back to life, they'd get the most extraordinary gift of all: the answer talker. Which was exactly how Kiyomaro gained his. So did that mean that Dufort had died sometime when he was a child, but somehow brought back to life? Or was he just simply born with it, which was _very _unlikely? He shrugged it off. He'll find out one day.

A scream then broke him out his thoughts and Kiyomaro looked up at the playground. Gash had fallen down and scraped his knee. Kiyomaro couldn't help but sigh; Gash was a demon who had gone through many battles and seen many bloodshed and hell, he was the _king _of _hell _and yet he was crying over a simple scrape? He then remembered that Gash was still a child.

Zeon had immediately rushed to his brother's side and helped him get up. "Are you okay, Gash?" Gash looked down at his injured knee and wiped his eyes with his free arm; his other arm was currently around Zeon's neck, who was supporting him.

"Unuu…I think it's just a scratch. I heal quickly; it'll go away soon."

Zeon ignored his what his brother said and ripped off a piece of his mantle. Gash wondered what he was doing before his twin brother wrapped the cloth around his leg, acting as a quick bandage. "There." Zeon smiled, looking back at Gash. "Doesn't that feel better?"

Gash bent his leg a bit, and a large grin broke out on his face. "Unuu! A lot better! Thank you, Zeon!" He then tackled his brother in a hug.

Yes, the twin demons shared a very deep bond, Kiyomaro mused to himself, smiling at the sight.

Maybe his relationship with Dufort was just as deep, if not more. If it was…then he was sure that the both of them would last quite a while.


	10. Lull and Storm

**A/N: A lot of people say my voice is light…I wonder why? xDD;; (That wasn't sarcasm, by the way. ._.;;)**

**And I didn't have a lot of time to type this chapter, but I did the best I could in the half hour that I had. :D**

**Prompt: Lull and Storm  
Words(without A/N): 1,269  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

Things were always peaceful before a demon battle, Kiyomaro noticed.

Kiyomaro also noticed that most of their battles either took place at the river, at the park, or at some random abandoned factory. Not that he was complaining; there was never anyone there at the time of the battle. He just wished that the next battle would take place somewhere different. Where it would take place, he didn't know, nor did he care; he was just tired of the usual battle places.

Of course, that didn't necessarily mean he was looking forward to the demon fights.

It was quite the opposite, really. The demons pretty much _always _came barging in(it didn't matter if they were currently in a room with a door or not…) at the most random times, and most of the time it was during sometime that was peaceful(which was pretty rare for Kiyomaro), or during something important, like that one time a demon popped up when he was running late for school. Needless to say, he was hours late.

He just wanted to spend most of the rare times he had peace around him being with Dufort. He knew Dufort felt the same, even if the man never voiced his thoughts out loud. Kiyomaro just _knew_.

He, Dufort, and the twins were at the park. Again, Kiyomaro noted with a groan. Gash and Zeon had dragged them to the park over and over again the past few days, and the teenager was getting bored of the place. …Well, he was already bored with it, but this just crossed the line. He couldn't yell at Gash or anything, though, because Zeon would most likely break his arm if he did.

Kiyomaro sighed, sitting on the bench next to Dufort. It was pretty hot outside today, he noted. His eyelids drooped with drowsiness, and he remembered that he didn't get much sleep the past few days, for Gash had been waking everyone up in the middle of the night screaming in terror about something. The demon had been getting nightmares recently, and Kiyomaro didn't know why. Zeon had taken care of him, of course, but everyone could tell that the silver haired demon was also suffering from lack of sleep by the way his movements were sluggish, how he kept crashing his face in his breakfast(in which Gash laughed and Kiyomaro ordered him to the bathroom to wash his face), how he even fell asleep in the bathroom after the breakfast incidents, and how he just wasn't acting like he usually did.

The only person who seemed himself was Gash, the source of everyone's tiredness. If anything, Gash was even _more _hyper than usual, dragging Zeon this way and that. Kiyomaro decided that if there was ever a time to sleep whenever Gash was sure to not bother him, it would be now. The teenager yawned and closed his eyes, allowing his body to relax. He eventually fell on Dufort's lap, but the man didn't mind and he didn't push him away, knowing exactly how tired Kiyomaro was, being just as sleepy.

Kiyomaro's nap didn't last for long, however, when an explosion immediately woke him up. He quickly snapped himself up in alarm, looking for the source of the explosion, when he found it. It honestly wasn't that hard, with the enemy laughing her lungs out.

"Ahahaha! What a cute playground! I just love destroying peaceful sceneries as this!" The green haired demon smirked evilly, cracking her fingers. She then raised her arm, allowing the sunlight to glint off her sharp nails.

Kiyomaro groaned as he fumbled around his bag for the red book. Dufort was already standing and held his silver spell book open in his hands. Zeon was in front of his quickly while Gash was still running over to Kiyomaro.

"Oh? Looks like there's demons here, Rora." The human said.

"So it seems. Let's fight them!"

"Zakeru." Dufort wasted no more time as Zeon unleashed a bolt of silver lightning from his hand and it collided with Rora's front, sending her back into her bookkeeper. The demon quickly picked herself up and scowled.

"Hey! I wasn't ready; that's not fair!"

"Rauzaruku!"

A bolt of lightning crashed into Gash and he started glowing a rainbow hue. A second later, he dashed off with unnatural speed and quickly appeared in front of Rora in a flash and promptly punched her across the face. Gash wasn't the type of person who liked battles, but if the enemy was someone who even proved a bit dangerous, he knew when to get serious. Zeon had taught him that.

Rora growled and grabbed Gash's arm and pulled him over her shoulder. Her lime green spell book started glowing, and her human partner chanted the spell;

"Rianfudo."

Vines surrounded Gash's limbs, rendering him unable to move, and Rora quickly threw him in front of her before the vines exploded, sending the blonde demon flying. Zeon's first instinct was to help his brother, but he knew that he had to defeat Rora first, or else he could be next and not be able to help Gash at all. He knew Gash was a fast healer, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Teozakeru."

A ring made of electricity appeared in front of Zeon's hand, and lightning bolts shot from all around it, all headed for Rora.

"Oh, damn! We still don't have a defensive spell!" Rora shouted out. Zeon smirked; what an idiot to go charging into battle without having a single spell to defend herself with. His smirk widened when she screamed in pain when the electricity reached her. He moved his hand to the human partner.

"Zakeru." The human had no time to react before the green spell book she was holding fell to the ground in flames. She backed up a few steps, then turned around and ran away as Rora disappeared.

"Weak." Zeon groaned, then remembered his brother. He turned around. "Gash! Are you all right?"

"Unuu!" Gash was already standing. He didn't look hurt at all except for the burn marks around his arms and legs, and a part of his mantle was burned off. "I'm glad that Zeon worries for me."

"Of course I worry for you, you're my brother. It's my job." Zeon's face flushed pink and he looked away, not wanting to say more.

Dufort noted that Gash's Rauzaruku spell wore off fairly quickly, and he noticed Kiyomaro leaning against the bench, his eyes closed in slumber. The man sighed; it looked like Gash wouldn't have been able to fight anymore anyway. But it _was _the demon's fault in the first place for depriving everyone of their sleep. He shook his head, knowing it wasn't Gash's fault that he continued to have nightmares. The cause of that was unknown, even to him.

He walked over to the sleeping teenager and picked him up gently with his arms and started heading back to Kiyomaro's house. Gash and Zeon seemed to catch on, and ran after the two.

"Hey, Gash. I know that you're all right and all, but I'm still getting the burn cream out when we get home." Zeon said to his twin when they had caught up.

"Unuu! Thank you for worrying about me, Zeon, but I'm fine!"

"I know, I know. But just incase, okay?"

"But I don't need-"

"Oh my God, shut UP already." Kiyomaro groaned, opening his eyes a bit. "Gash, just let Zeon get the freaking cream. Stop arguing and let me _sleep._"

"Unuu, sorry, Kiyomaro." Gash started whispering before turning back to Zeon. "But I really don't need-"

"Shut UP!"


	11. Animal

**A/N: This is what seeing this prompt ****right after**** having my mind warped by having dealt with Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni related stuff for the past nine hours. Seriously. I started watching Higurashi/Playing Higurashi Daybreak at two in the afternoon, now it's eleven at night.**

**And seeing this prompt right after going through Tatarigoroshi-hen…especially after that one certain part I'm not going to name due to spoiler reasons…Yeah…**

**Also, this originally started off with a vague idea, but then this turned into an Alternate Universe. Halfway through writing this chapter, I actually came up with a real plot for this oneshot...**

**If anyone wants, I'll create a new story based off of this world; of course, everything would be explained, meaning why the town is so poor, the characters' backgrounds, why they're living that way, etc.**

**I really want to use this idea for a new fic, but I'd like to know if anyone is interested in it first of all. If anyone's interested, I'll start it. :D**

**Prompt: Animal  
Words(without A/N): 1,619  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

When anyone, and he meant _anyone_, messed with Kiyomaro in any way, shape, or form, Dufort would resort to drastic measures.

Sometimes the teenager he worked so hard to protect had to stop him going too far; but he just couldn't help in in the off chance that the horrible offender would do something that would scar Kiyomaro, and he most definitely did not want that.

Zeon loved to help his bookkeeper, but it wasn't because he wanted to help protect Kiyomaro. Far from that, actually. He just loved watching the humans groan and whimper in pain, trying so desperately to run away from the two monsters(Dufort and himself), even when they all knew that it was pointless. Didn't they ever figure out that running would get them no where?

Of course, Zeon didn't like it when they just willing acted submissive to them. He always wanted a sort of retaliation, whether they'd try to hit him or anything, but running was simply out of the question, and he grew to hate it.

There were many people who liked to harm Gash and Kiyomaro. The two targets could never figure out why(though Kiyomaro assumed that they liked beating up Gash just for the fun of it and that he looked weak), but always having to run away every other day was starting to grow tiring. Even Gash, the person who loved to tag along with Kiyomaro wherever the teenager went, suggested that they just stay at home and not go anywhere for the next week or two.

The bullies never learnt their lesson, did they?

Kiyomaro pondered over why everyone who even looked a tinier bit stronger than he and Gash loved to pick on them so much. They knew it wouldn't end well for them(especially when Zeon and Dufort, the two bodyguards, were on duty, which was pretty much twenty-four seven), so why? It was either that they thought that they'd get to the two someday, or it was because they loved getting hurt themselves, which the teenager highly doubted. That was a stupid reason to beat them.

The teenager did not know what it was like whenever Dufort got truly angry. No one had ever provoked him that far before. Gash had seen Zeon so furious it scared even him, but he loved his brother anyway because he knew that the silver haired twin only wanted his brother's safety and wanted no harm to come his way, lest he bestow living hell upon anyone who tries to hurt him. It was pretty much the same with Dufort, but the man usually let Zeon torture the humans in the end.

It was a bright and sunny day, and Kiyomaro opened his eyes to see the sunlight pouring in through the window. He immediately shut them tight in order to block the light out, but he eventually got up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The teenager poked Gash's(who was sleeping on the floor) side with his foot in a half-hearted attempt to wake the demon up.

He had a feeling that no one would bother them today. It wasn't all that often that the sun came out, and he liked to enjoy it as much as possible. That, and his best friend Suzume was always her happiest on sunny days, and he liked it when she was happy. Suzume knew not to meddle with Kiyomaro's and Dufort's relationship, having known the younger teenager her entire life. And for that reason, Dufort actually trusted her.

Zeon barged in the room, kicking the door open and nearly breaking it off its hinges as he stormed in, shoving Kiyomaro out of the way and moving in front of his brother. He poked Gash lightly in order to wake him up. The blonde haired demon slowly got up and rubbed his eyes vigorously.

"Unuu…It looks sunny out today! I think today will be a good day!" The little demon said happily, throwing off the covers of his futon and jumping up and out of the room.

"I think so, too. Usually the sky is really dark and grey, but Mr. Sun came out to play today and it makes me happy!" A female's voice rang throughout the small house as Suzume poked her head in the room, a bright smile on his face.

"Suzume…What are you doing here?" Kiyomaro asked, grabbing his school uniform and quickly heading to the bathroom without waiting for her reply.

"Well…I woke up early and I'm already ready, so I came to get you guys!" He smile faltered a bit. "I hope those mean bullies won't pick on us today. Yesterday was a close call."

"Eh, whatever." Zeon waved his hand dismissively. "If anything goes wrong today, just shout out and we'll kick the guys' asses in no time at all. Actually, you won't even need to shout, for we'll be there right away."

"Gash, get the hell out of the bathroom!" Kiyomaro shouted, banging his fist on the locked door. Behind the door, the mentioned demon snickered before it burst out into a huge laugh. "I need to change!"

"But I'm not done yet!"

"Hurry up!"

"Unuu, I'm done!" Gash opened the door quickly and Kiyomaro, who was leaning on it, fell through and landed on his back on the hard, cold floor. Suzume laughed at the funny sight, glad that her day started off nice for once. Hopefully it won't be shattered…

**OoO**

"No sign of them."

The three let out a sigh of relief when Zeon announced that the coast was clear. Gash, Kiyomaro, and Suzume walked out of the fence they were hiding behind, having nothing to worry about. The silver haired demon had to carefully lead them to school in order to protect them from the bullies who liked to walk early to school.

The town they lived in wasn't all that nice, with many suspicious neighborhoods and many buildings were in desperate need of remodeling. The population wasn't that big, naturally, so almost everyone knew each other and the whole town would know the very next day if something had happened, big or small. Most of the time, though, no one would care.

Suzume was thinking about what she could do to fix up this poor town in the future when somebody shoved her from behind and pushed her into Kiyomaro. The two fell down and the two demons stopped walking when they heard a chorus of laughter behind them. They all turned around, and the girl's heart sank when she found out it was the bullies.

_But the sun is still out; it was supposed to be the perfect day…_

"Look what we have here! The runt, the idiot, and the self-proclaimed genius!" It wasn't all that hard to figure out which name went to who. Sure, the whole town knew about the demon battle. Secrets were hard to keep in this town, and they all knew of Gash's past.

Suzume was starting to feel that her nickname didn't quite fit as well as it used to, and that was because Kiyomaro was tutoring her every day after school. She considered herself a lot smarter, but she could never bring herself to stand up to the bullies.

Kiyomaro, on the other hand, his 'nickname' didn't exactly fit all that well either. Sure, he was smart, but he never boasted about it to anybody. …He just kept to himself until Gash came along.

"So, what shall it be today, boys? The gym lockers, the bathroom toilet, or does anyone else have any other ideas?" The apparent leader of the group smirked, the rest of his fellow bullies chuckled amongst each other. Kiyomaro sighed; all those places were so typical…

"I have an i-oomph!" The bully was cut off when something smacked him hard on the back of his head, and the same force hit all of the others. Kiyomaro and Suzume looked up to see Dufort holding a metal pipe that he got from who knows where(though it wasn't all that hard to get something like that around here…). He continued to mercilessly pound the bullies into submission before they ran away, screaming for mercy. Even though they put up that act, it would only be until tomorrow, where they'll come back to pick on them again.

The pipe Dufort held was covered with splattered blood from the bullies; the man hadn't held back, and some of them would be having concussions. This wasn't the first time this happened, though, but Kiyomaro couldn't help but wonder if Dufort ever actually felt any sympathy for any humans other than them. …It sometimes made him look more like an animal than a human…

"I could've handled them, but they completely ignored me!" Zeon shouted, crossing his arms angrily and huffing.

"Sure, you could've." Dufort rolled his eyes and helped them all up.

"You're earlier than usual. Usually, they'd have us all tied up and be dragging us to the school right now."

"If they ever bother you again," Dufort ignored the teenager. "I am going to kill them and use their bodies for practice incase anyone else decides to mess with you."

Kiyomaro shivered; knowing that the man would most likely follow on his word.

Suzume, on the other hand, smiled. She could trust Dufort, and looks like the sun hadn't lied today. It didn't matter how much inhuman he seemed, he still cared deeply for them, and that's all that'll ever matter for her.

Then Dufort whacked her upside the head lightly with his hand for even thinking of him like that.

"I love Kiyomaro, not you."

Kiyomaro sighed. But he did wonder if the bullies would come back tomorrow…


	12. Children

**A/N: This takes place in the same universe as the last. …Because no matter what I do with this prompt, it's going to take place in the same universe as the one in the last chapter. xDD**

**Zeon and Gash do appear in this chapter. Just to let you know, in case you think they don't. But they do, don't worry. x33**

**This is also the longest chapter so far! Yay! This is also my favorite chapter. What's your favorite chapter so far? (:**

**And…no one said if they wanted me to write the new story or not. ._.;; Should I or no?**

**Prompt: Children  
Words(without A/N): 2,733  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

When the two first met, Kiyomaro was six, and Dufort was ten.

No one really wanted to be around the older child, because his white hair and very pale skin seemed to frighten them. Usually, his major differences from the other children would get him picked on straight away, but they left him alone when they found out that he was not a force to be reckoned with.

Eight years later, and one of those bullies still had the scar on the back of his neck.

Kiyomaro was a different case, however. While the bullies mostly left Dufort alone, those same ones and sometimes even more would gang up on him and beat him. He would never complain or cry out whenever they did it; no, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of knowing that they were wearing him down more and more everyday.

On the day Kiyomaro thought he couldn't take it anymore, Dufort had rounded the corner right then and there.

At first, Dufort couldn't really see who the poor victim today was because the bullies were huddled in a circle around their target. He wasn't really interested in saving the person who was going to get beaten up; he had never done so before. The child knew that whenever the bullies rounded up a person, their target would scream for mercy or cry out in pain whenever they were hit. …But this person didn't do that.

It was clear that the bullies were done with him because of the way some people started walking off to the direction of the school. Dufort could usually tell he'd walk near a so called 'bully circle' whenever he heard screams of pain, but he didn't really expect to find a silent one today. Of course, he could just use his answer talker to check for any incoming ones, but the bullies never bothered him anyway, so he just didn't care.

This was the first time that he had seen a silent one, and he stuck around to see who the victim was, but only after hiding behind the fence. He wanted to know what the person would do next, and if they saw him, then they most likely would just keep silent. Dufort wanted to see what the person usually did right after he was beaten.

"Damn it…" he heard the child mutter, and by the tone of voice, he could tell it was a boy. A very young one. That was odd; the younger ones were the ones who were most likely to cry, so why didn't this boy do the same? Dufort furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. This boy was certainly different.

"Ta-Takamine-kun…Are you all right? I saw them surrounding you, and I wanted to help-I really did!-, but I was to scared, and-"

"It's fine, Mizuno." The boy cut her off, and Dufort could hear the waver in his voice. So the boy _wasn't _completely unaffected, and apparently this 'Mizuno' person could sense it as well.

"But…this happens every day, and…sometimes I have to carry you to school…I'm glad you're really light." The girl tried to laugh it off, but the boy ignored her and started walked ahead, a slight limp in his step.

"I don't think…I want to live this life anymore." He said after a few moments of hesitation. The Mizuno girl gasped a bit and stepped back, but from there she only stepped forward to go in front of the boy and turning around to face him. She bent over to look up into his eyes that were covered by his black hair, and only then did she realize that she was crying.

"…No one does, Takamine-kun. We're all tired of it, but we have to live through it. Eventually, this will all end. Even if it's hard now, it…it can't really get any more worse, right? I think this is the lowest point of our lives, and we can not go lower…So things can only look up from here. So just hang in there, Takamine-kun…"

"I told you to just call me Kiyomaro…" the boy sighed. "We've known each other our entire lives; you really don't have to call me by my surname. And…we're living in the lowest part of our lives right now, you say?" He chuckled humorlessly. "Then tell me; why have we been living in the lowest part of our lives for the past six years?"

Suzume could feel tears spring into her eyes, and she did nothing to hide them and force them back. If Takamine-kun could cry willingly in front of her, then…she could, too.

"Takamine-kun-I mean, Kiyomaro-kun…" She started, not really knowing what to say next.

"So you just stand there and let them beat you?" a new voice entered the conversation, and Suzume turned around to see a boy a few years older than her standing in front of them. He intimidated her a bit; was he going to hurt them, too? She semi-consciously turned fully around and spread her arms out in a defensive stance as if to protect the silent sobbing boy behind her. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you."

She seemed to ease up after hearing that, but immediately tensed a few seconds after. No, she wasn't going to fall for that. Those bullies always said the exact same thing, and the result? A painful walk during the rest of the way to school. Suzume refused to be naive any longer.

But after inspecting the older boy for a few more minutes, she realized that he really wasn't going to beat them. If he was, he would have already done it. She lowered her arms. "So…what do you want?"

"To talk to the boy behind you." Dufort replied calmly, using as little words as possible. The girl didn't interest him at all; she seemed just like the other ones. But the boy…he didn't shout in pain when he was being beaten, nor did he plead for mercy. In a way, he was stronger than the others, but he was also weaker than them…And this was what angered Dufort the most.

Not waiting for the girl's reply, he pushed her out of the way and forced the boy's shoulders up and causing him to face Dufort. The boy-Kiyomaro, he believed the girl called him- seemed to not respond to the older one's actions. Instead, he stared calmly into his green eyes, and Dufort noted that Kiyomaro's brown eyes were completely dull, not a spark of life to them. If he didn't do anything now, Kiyomaro could be broken the next day.

"You have to stop letting them beat you. Use violence if you have to, just show them that you won't take it anymore." Dufort shook Kiyomaro's shoulders lightly; he didn't want to give the boy any reason to see him as an enemy. "The reason they keep coming back is because they want to break you, until you can do nothing more but to be shattered into pieces right in front of them. You think that your retaliating against them by not screaming or crying in pain?"

"…That was the idea…" Dufort was taken aback by the fact that Kiyomaro actually answered; so the younger boy _was _listening to him. Good. Which meant that he could get his point across faster.

"No. You're not. It's only giving them a reason to come back. Six years you've been beaten, you say? I'm assuming it's more than one bully circle that's beating you. It may be a contest between all of them to say, 'Hey, I wonder who can make that Takamine kid break first'. That's why they keep coming back." Dufort leaned in closer to Kiyomaro; until their noses were almost touching. "You have to make a stand, or it'll never stop, and you'll live your entire life in abuse."

"Maybe if I didn't exist, it would be easier…For me, for everyone…"

"Don't say that!" Suzume had shouted before Dufort could even think of what to say next, and before the older boy knew it, the girl had roughly grabbed Kiyomaro out of Dufort's reach and slapped him across the face. She raised her hand to her face and stared at it with a frozen expression for a while; not believing what she just did. But what was done is done, and so she glared down at him, trying to look as fierce and determined as possible. It seemed to work, as Kiyomaro, who was now sprawled out on the ground, clenched his teeth and his eyes widened a bit, not believing that the ever gentle Suzume…just _slapped _him.

"Okay, say that everything is your fault, and that you shouldn't exist anymore." Suzume didn't know where the words were coming from, but she wanted to sound exactly like Dufort, as determined as he proved himself to be. She wanted to help fix Kiyomaro, and with the sudden appearance of Dufort…she could be able to accomplish that. "What are you going to do? Are you going to just disappear? Are you going to run away to a new town? How are you going to do that? We rely on each other, Kiyomaro. …We rely on each other when no one else will." Her tone softened, and she lost her vigor she had just a few moments ago. Suzume looked to Dufort for help.

"…I don't think that's what he meant, Suzume." Dufort said, not caring if Suzume wondered how he knew her name. That wasn't important right now. "…I don't think he was planning on running away. He'd solve his problems a different way."

"I…don't get what you mean." Suzume tilted her head, and she looked at Kiyomaro, who immediately looked to another direction. She could tell that he didn't like all the attention, but…This was necessary. A thought suddenly came to her mind and she gasped. "You…You weren't thinking of…" she didn't finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she was thinking. Kiyomaro didn't respond. "Y-you…were…thinking of that, weren't you?" The tears flowed down on her face again. "But…if you did…who would be left to help me…?"

Kiyomaro looked back at her, confused. He thought about it for a moment and lowered his head. "I…don't know."

Dufort sighed. Things weren't getting anywhere. He looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and he pulled Kiyomaro's shirt to get him to come up. "So you're saying that Suzume isn't good enough to live for?"

"N-no…! I wasn't really going to…do that. It was just a sudden outburst, is all. Things just…got out of hand." Dufort ignored him.

"So what if there was someone else to live for?"

"What do you mean?"

Dufort didn't say anything else, and pressed his lips against the younger boy's. Suzume gasped and her face turned bright red at the sight, and she looked away, not wanted to come across as rude for staring.

Kiyomaro's eyes widened before he even knew what was happening. His thoughts slowly collected and when he figured everything out, his face also turned a deep red color. Dufort seemed to be unaffected. The younger boy's hands were on Dufort's chest, but he didn't push him away.

It wasn't a passionate kiss, or anything of the sort. Yes, they were just children, but they were much more mature than other children their age from all across the world, and it was thanks(Was it thanks? No one knew for certain.) to the area in which they lived in. The schools didn't really care what the children knew or didn't know, and so they rambled on one subject to another quickly. Hell, you could be in second grade and be learning about sexual education if you lived in this town.

When Dufort finally pulled back, Kiyomaro wasn't sure what had just happened. Well, yes, this person he just met five minutes ago was just kissing him, and yes, this person acted as if he knew him for a very long time, but-

"Why?"

That one word was the first thing that spilled out of his lips before he could even stop himself. Dufort looked momentarily confused, but that look quickly vanished in seconds. He shrugged.

"You were different." Is all that the older child said. "So, answer my question. Would you allow yourself to keep living if there was another person to live for?"

"Whoa, whoa. I never said I was going to kill myself."

"No, you didn't say it directly…but you implied it, and it really scared me! Please don't do that again, Kiyomaro-kun…!" Suzume said, having known that the kiss was over when Kiyomaro started talking. The blush on her face was very noticeable, even in the dark, but now that they were getting onto the serious subject again, she could feel it start to fade.

"…I'm sorry," Kiyomaro said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll say it a million times or even more until you feel better…" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-" Dufort cut him off with another kiss.

"You don't have to apologize to me. And I'm sure Mizuno doesn't need you to say sorry, either."

"Right." Suzume nodded.

"So…answer my question. Even if you were never going to commit suicide, it's obvious that you've thought of it before." Suzume gasped, but Dufort kept on going. "Let's say that you were going to kill yourself. If you knew that there was more than just one person who cared about you…would you still do it? Or would you continue on living for those people…?"

Kiyomaro took a while to answer. "I…Of course I'd keep living! Even if I did want to kill myself, I doubt I'd be able to go through it anyway, ahaha…!" He tried to laugh it off just like Suzume earlier, but the same thing happened and it didn't work.

"Besides…since you found out that I care if you die, I'm sure that even more people will come in the future that will care about you." Dufort didn't know what he was talking about(he could read minds and figure out any question he had, but he wasn't someone who could predict the future.), but he just had a feeling that more people would come one day.

"…Maybe. Can you let go of me now? This position kind of hurts." Dufort complied with Kiyomaro's request and let go of his shirt. Suzume smiled, knowing that her best friend had come back to normal. Seeing him in that…broken doll-like state scared her completely. Usually he was strong, but years or being tortured and beaten up really did take its toll on one person…especially if they were really young.

Dufort's prediction turned out to be right, though it wasn't until a long time later.

Gash Bell and Zeon Bell had came into their lives when Kiyomaro was fourteen, and Dufort was eighteen.

Kiyomaro couldn't help but laugh when Zeon frowned when Dufort took his food. Gash also took a couple bites of his brother's dinner, but the silver haired demon never seemed to have minded. He thought back to what Suzume had said eight years ago.

_It was something about them living in the lowest part of their lives…_

Kiyomaro smiled. When Dufort had came to help him, although he didn't know it at the time, his life had started to slowly rise up. Sure, he was still beaten on, but when they found out that he was with Dufort, they picked on him a lot less. It was still a lot more than he would have liked, but…it was much better than when he was six. And he hoped that he wasn't at the highest point of his life yet.

"Stop smiling for no reason. They'll lock you away in a crazy house if you do that." Zeon said, smirking. "If they did, I wouldn't be surprised. You are a really strange person who says the most random things."

Kiyomaro's foot instantly crashed into Zeon's knee not a second later, and Zeon shouted out in pain.

"Unuu? What's wrong, Zeon…?"

"He kicked me! Dufort, punish him!" Zeon pointed accusingly at Kiyomaro, who smiled innocently and continued eating his dinner as if he didn't do anything wrong.

"Don't worry, I will, sooner or later."

Five minutes later, Kiyomaro choked on his food when he found out the hidden meaning behind those words.


	13. We All Float On

**A/N: And…****still**** no opinions. -.-;; Oh well. I'll ask my friend about it tomorrow, lol.**

…This may not fit the prompt exactly…oh well.

**Prompt: We All Float On  
Words(without A/N): 1,153  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: Small spoilers for beginning of first movie.  
Verse: First Movie-verse.**

**OoO**

"Gash, hold on to me! That way I can take most of the impact before we hit the ground, and so you'll be safe!"

"But Zeon, what if you get really hurt? I wouldn't know what I would do if that happened!"

"It's not going to happen unless you don't pull the damn string before you hit the ground!"

Kiyomaro struggled to keep his hair from lashing into his eyes by shutting them tight. Even so, he could still see in his mind the sight that was right next to him of Gash clinging onto his brother for dear life. Idiots; nothing bad would happen unless they didn't release the parachute…which was most likely what was going to happen.

"If you both die, it's not my fault!"

"Unuu, you're so mean, Kiyomaro…!" Gash wailed, fumbling around his backpack, frantically searching for the string he had to pull in order to release the parachute.

"Not now, idiot!"

The teenager groaned. The four of them were currently falling through the air after Zeon had pushed them all out of the airplane when he deemed the time good enough. They weren't supposed to jump off for another five minutes…! Now they were going to completely miss their target.

"This is all your fault, Zeon. If you hadn't pushed us out so soon, we still might've had a chance to find those demons!"

"Shut up, human! If I wanted to jump, I would have pushed you all out!"

"…You _did _push us out." Dufort pointed out.

"…Shut up!"

Gash seemed to have forgotten his fear of crashing into the ground and he was smiling happily like a young child who got everything he wanted for Christmas. He let go of Zeon and thrust his arms out on either side of himself, and pretending to soar through the sky like a bird. "Hey, this is pretty fun!" Everyone lost sight of him when he entered a cloud.

"G-Gash! I'll save you!" Zeon, who was a little higher up than his brother was, tried to fly his way to the cloud his brother disappeared in, only to fall quicker and miss his targeted cloud. "No! Gash!"

"It's not going to kill him." Kiyomaro groaned.

"Shut up! I'm aloud to care for my brother, aren't I?"

Before the teenager could snap back a response, Gash had fell through the bottom of the cloud, soaking wet and laughing at the top of his lungs. Zeon nearly choked. "G-Gash…! You're okay!"

"Hahaha! Unuu! Clouds are made of water! I want to do that again!"

"Don't scare me next time!" Zeon roared, and Gash recoiled(as much as he could) a bit. The blonde haired demon's golden eyes then started to fill with tears.

"Unuu…sorry, Zeon." He then brightened up a second later. "Want to join me in the next cloud?"

"Sure!"

The two then started diving for the nearest cloud, despite Kiyomaro's screaming for them not to and to focus on how high up they were from the ground, which they would be hitting in about five minutes. …That plane really was high, Kiyomaro noticed. He was about to voice his thoughts aloud when somebody on his right side shoved him. The teenager turned around in oni-mode, about to yell at the person who pushed him, until he figured out what exactly he was going to fall on…or into.

"Du-Dufort…! Why the hell did you push me right above a cloud?" The teenager shouted, attempting to slow himself down as much as possible.

"I just felt like it." was all the man said, though Kiyomaro could tell that he did it for another reason as well…He didn't have time to ponder over it before he fell through the top of the cloud.

Right when Kiyomaro fell in was when Gash and Zeon came out from the bottom, both of them soaking wet yet laughing all the while. It seemed as if Zeon had a lot of fun in the cloud as well, even when he was opposed to Gash 'hiding' in it before.

Seconds later, Kiyomaro fell through the bottom, coughing and soaking wet. Dufort took the teenager's arm and pulled him into a tight embrace. It was then that the man noticed that Kiyomaro was shivering.

"…It's cold." was all the teenager said about it.

"Damn it, there's no more clouds! They're too high up!" Zeon shouted at the top of his lungs, noticing that they only had but a few minutes before they hit ground, and everyone knew that they had to release the parachute sooner or later unless they wanted to crash headfirst into the ground.

Dufort ended up releasing Kiyomaro's parachute for him, and the teenager started screaming when he was suddenly lifted high into the air(not to mention he immediately started freezing again when he lost Dufort's warmth). The man then released his own parachute, and he gave a silent look to Gash and Zeon to do the same.

Zeon groaned and he fumbled around Gash's backpack for the string when he realized that he couldn't find it. "…Gash?"

"Unuu, yes, Zeon?"

"…Where's the string on your bag?"

"There wasn't a string when I put it on!" Gash exclaimed happily.

"Then why are you wearing that?"

"Because it's holding my yellowtail!" The blonde haired demon opened up his bag and the fish nearly flew out if Gash hadn't caught it with lightning quick reflexes. Not a second later and he was already ripping the fish apart and eating it raw with its teeth.

Zeon looked disgusted for a little while before he remembered that the type of fish was his dear beloved brother's favorite food, then he sighed. "Hold on to me tightly, Gash, okay?"

"Unuu, got it!" Gash downed the fish in less than five seconds and he threw the bones over his shoulder, not really caring where it would land. Though, if the bones landed anywhere like it did when he first met Kotoha, then he felt a little sorry for the person the bones would hit…

He clung onto his brother tightly, and Zeon released the parachute, and the two shot up higher into the sky together, then slowly started drifting down.

A few minutes later, and Kiyomaro was sprawled out on the ground, breathing heavily, while Zeon laughed at him and Gash looked worried. Dufort just stood up and stared down at the younger teenager.

"I hate the fact that we have to do this again because a certain _someone _pushed us out too early…!" Kiyomaro groaned in exasperation. Zeon snickered.

"I don't mind doing that again. In fact, I might push us all out even earlier over and over again!"

"Unuu! Let's do that!" Gash agreed excitedly.

"I liked holding a shaking Kiyomaro." Dufort said, without a hint of emotion on his face. Kiyomaro's face flushed a bright red, but otherwise said nothing, until...

"You know…I may not mind doing this again anymore…"


	14. Chess

**A/N: I finished my UTAU's first song earlier today. :DD I like how it came out. x33**

**Link to the song(remove spaces):**

**http: / / www . youtube . com/ watch?v = MeTrqZkQGPw**

**Drawing the picture actually took longer than putting the song together. XDD**

**And before you ask; Kyuno's voice is really my voice…Except I recorded each note at a lower pitch to make it sound more masculine. …That totally backfired on me when he sounds more feminine in his regular voice than I do. ._O**

**Prompt: Chess  
Words(without A/N): 956(ACK. This one is SHORT. I'll try to make tomorrow's prompt longer. ^^;;)  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Anime verse.**

**NOTE: 'Upping' **_**is **_**a word, in case you're wondering. …At least, my spell checker didn't mark it wrong, so I assume it's a real word. xDD If it's not…oh well. It wasn't supposed to make sense, anyway.**

**OoO**

"I think I have a chess board somewhere in the closet. Want to play?"

It was an ordinary Sunday morning; meaning it was very boring and no one could find anything to do. Kiyomaro proposed the idea of playing chess with Dufort as a last-ditch effort to do _something _somewhat interesting and fun to do.

The idea of playing chess certainly beat just sitting around doing absolutely nothing, which was what Zeon was currently doing.

"Ah, whatever," The silver haired demon waved his hand dismissively. "You two go play your boring human board game. I'll sit here watching Gash."

"…Was that supposed to be an insult?" Kiyomaro asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah. Why?"

"…Because watching Gash sounds a lot more boring than playing chess."

"…Shut up."

The teenager sighed and turned on his heel; walking to the closet to retrieve the chess board. Dufort stood where he was, not moving a step to help Kiyomaro look for it. Zeon was sprawled out all over the couch, flipping through the television and not watching Gash as he had said earlier, but he was still able to keep some of his focus on the younger twin to make sure he didn't do anything dangerous.

Gash, meanwhile, was playing with his Vulcan. He was inserting rocks into the toy's mouth and pretending it was a type of food, and he made sound effects with his own voice to add a more 'realistic feeling to Vulcan's amazing power upping', he called it. Zeon wasn't sure if 'upping' was even a word, but because it was his brother, he decided to let it go.

"Uwooh, Vulcan!" The blonde haired demon said happily, using one hand to make Vulcan soar through the air as if the toy were actually flying. "It's time to defeat the evil villain now that you're charged! You may have been weak last time, but that was because you were in desperate need of recharge! Now that you're all charged up again, let's beat the villain! Yeahh!"

Gash jumped up from his sitting position suddenly and ran over to his older twin brother, where he started jabbing Zeon's arm with the top of the Vulcan toy. Zeon raised his eyebrow in a 'what the hell are you doing?' glance, but he didn't say anything. Nevertheless, Gash started answering his question as if it were actually spoken aloud.

"I'm pretending Zeon is the villain! See!" He continued jabbing Vulcan's head into Zeon's arm, and no matter how much the silver haired demon loved his brother, it was really starting to get on his nerves. He eventually ended up lashing out and grabbing the Vulcan toy from Gash's hands and snapping it in half. The demon sighed in relief, thinking that all of his problems were solved. He was soon proven wrong when his twin brother started to cry.

"…Uwahh!" Ki-Kiyomaro!" Gash ran over to the teenager who was still searching for the chess board in the closet, and ended up crashing into his leg, sending the both of them to the floor. Kiyomaro looked down at the small demon angrily, wondering just _what_, oh _what_, was wrong _this _time. "Ze-Zeon broke Vulcan!"

"I'm sorry, Gash! That thing was just really annoying!" Zeon apologized from the couch, getting up and running over. He shoved Kiyomaro out of the way, not wanting to be closer to the human than he had to be. Gash then ran over to where Kiyomaro now lay, not really wanting to face his brother alone.

Kiyomaro sighed. "Look, Gash. I'll make you a new Vulcan toy after the chess game with Dufort. How does that sound?"

"No! I wanted to play with Vulcan now, but then Zeon had to be really mean and break him! Uwahh, Kiyomaro, uwahh!" Gash started sobbing into the teenager's shirt(much to said teenager's annoyance), and Zeon's eye twitched, not really liking the idea of his brother relying on the human he didn't like.

"Gash, if you don't stop crying now, I swear I am never going to build you another Vulcan model ever again." Gash gasped dramatically when he heard this, and tried his best to stop his crying. Kiyomaro sighed and walked back over to the closet in search of the chess board.

Zeon ran over to his brother and hugged him. "Ignore him. If he never makes you another Vul…can…thing ever again, I'll beat him up and make you one myself."

"Re-really, Zeon?" Gash sniffed. The silver haired demon nodded and stuck out his pinky to promise his younger twin brother. The blonde haired demon curled his own pinky finger around his brother's and shook it in a strong promise.

"Now let's go back to watching TV. I think that scary show you like so much with the pathetically weak human in a giant praying mantis suit is going to be on soon." At the mention of his favorite show, Gash perked up and ran to the couch and stared at the television in anticipation. Zeon laughed lightly to himself and started to walk over to the couch as well, but not before shoving Kiyomaro deep into the closet and slamming the door.

A loud 'thump' and a cry of pain amused Zeon when it told the silver haired demon that Kiyomaro's head had hit the door. The demon laughed the rest of the way to the couch.

After a few minutes of silence from the closet, Dufort walked over to the closet door and opened it. When the door opened, he immediately stepped out of the way to avoid the wave of many house decorations, including a certain teenager holding a box closely to his chest with a slightly manic grin on his face.

"I found the game!"


	15. Duty

**A/N: And here's today's prompt! Moar AU-ness again. This is actually to hold you over until I get to typing out the actual story; because **_**yes, **_**I ****will**** be writing it. :D**

**And…I think today is ****XxInvaderXIzzyxX****'s birthday? I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure, aha…I'm positive you mentioned that Friday was your birthday, and well, today is Friday. xDD;;**

**I hope you have/had a wonderful birthday. ^^**

…**Still, you're lucky that your birthday is today. Mine already passed for the year. XDD**

**And…there's something in here that resembles a part of a Vocaloid story I read once that was too funny to pass up. ^^;; I'll probably end up editing it out later, but I just added it in the first place as a sort of comic relief, aha.**

**Anyhow!**

**This chapter is full of Dufort/Kiyomaro, Brotherly love!Zeon/Gash, and even Alishie/Suzume, because DaRkZeRoGaL requests it. xDD**

**Prompt: Duty  
Words(without A/N): 2,669  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

Just as Zeon felt it was his duty to protect his younger twin brother from the monsters in the rest of the world, Dufort felt as if it was his duty to protect his younger lover from those same evil forces.

Alishie and Riya had joined their merry little group of five a couple a months ago, and he proved himself useful plenty of times when Zeon and Dufort couldn't be around to protect the younger and weaker three. The teenager usually sacrificed his own body to the bullies for them to abuse; and hopefully it would give the others enough time to run away.

That hardly ever worked, however.

The bully circles were larger than ever when they went to go beat on Gash, Kiyomaro, Suzume, and Alishie. Three of them would hold the eldest of the four, Alishie, down so that they could capture the other three who were running away. Suzume would usually end up lagging behind because of her worry for Alishie, and she would get caught. It took the weakest of the group to hold her down. Next was Kiyomaro, because although he was slightly stronger than Suzume, he wasn't necessarily the fastest(but damn, was he flexible). Two of the bullies would push and hold him down.

The last bully, who was always the fastest of the bullies, would chase after Gash. Of course, the bully was a mere human, and Gash was a demon, so Gash should have the advantage, right? No. The blonde haired demon was a passive creature, and he hated to resort to violence. He could probably take down everyone who came his way in a snap, but he refused to do so; and then his twin brother, who was the complete opposite, had to step in and do it for him.

Zeon and Dufort had rounded the corner right when the short predator pounced upon his prey and succeeded in tackling the small demon to the ground. That wasn't a very smart move to do right in front of the victim's evil brother. Unlike Gash, Zeon was completely for violence, and would pretty much always use his fists to solver his problems. The lightning blonde would do the same as well, except the silver twin would use violence without hesitation, and he practically lived for the bloodshed.

"Get your filthy hands off my brother, bastard!"

That was all the warning the midget got before he was brutally tackled off of the smaller demon. Zeon did not hesitate to throw a few quick punches to the bullys face, which resulted in the short person having a broken nose and multiple bruises on his cheeks. Both of his eyes were already turning black, but Zeon did not stop there. He kicked the human over and over again, grinning manically at the sight of the 'inferior' being begging beneath him, begging to be let go. But he did not apologize for what he did, or could have done, and that was what angered Zeon the most.

Dufort, meanwhile, had noticed the other bullies were restraining Suzume, Alishie, and Kiyomaro. His eyes narrowed dangerously. Those three weren't their toys to play with, not the ditzy girl, not the strong willed boy, and definitely _not _his Kiyomaro. He took a few warning steps forward; the bullies looked up to see who it was. Once they took a good look at his face, they knew who he was.

The Dufort who moved in about twelve years ago; the one human that the bullies dared not to even go near. However, these particular group of bullies did not know that the person who was currently squirming under them, completely helpless, was the creepy Dufort's _boyfriend_. Oh, how much of a rude awakening they were in for.

The fat person who was pinning Kiyomaro to the ground with his own body merely looked up at the very pale man in disinterest. He thought that Dufort had no reason to just stand around and watch. A smile then made its way across his face; maybe the scary man wanted to join their group? He didn't look like it, but hell, nobody ever knew if the man ever showed emotions on his face in his entire life. The fat bully was completely unaware of the now unconscious teenager beneath him who passed out from lack of air.

"Let him go."

Those three words were the first words anyone who wasn't close to Dufort in any way had ever heard the man speak. His voice was surprisingly light yet deep at the same time; no one could really describe it. Then the bully wondered why the hell he was even thinking of that before a foot from the man in question crashed into his face and he was sent flying backwards into the other bully who was helping him in restraining Kiyomaro.

Dufort wordlessly picked up the limp teenager and carefully placed him over his shoulder. He then moved on to saving Suzume. It didn't take long to rescue her; one menacing glare later and the bully ran for the school as if his life depended on it. Maybe it did.

"O-Oh! Th-thank you, Dufort! I-I was so sc-scared a-and-"

"Let's save your boyfriend now." Suzume's face flushed red when the man spoke to her.

"Wh-wha…? N-no, you've got it all wrong…! Alishie isn't my boyfriend, he's just-"

"A friend who happens to be male and is very close to you in ways nobody has ever been close to you before. Now shut up and let's go."

Suzume didn't make another sound as she followed the man. Dufort stepped on the pile of bullies who were attacking Kiyomaro(whose face was starting to finally revert back to its original color), and continued walking to the three remaining bullies. He stopped. He then started walking backwards and stepped on the bully pile again, who both groaned in pain. The man decided to change his mind and continue walking back to the bullies who were restraining Alishie, which meant he stepped on the two bullies once more. Suzume snickered and decided to step on them three times in the exact same fashion as Dufort.

She looked up and saw Dufort placing Kiyomaro's body on the fence so that he wouldn't have to carry him anymore. It wasn't that Kiyomaro was heavy(in fact, Suzume always wondered if he even ate enough during meals…), it was just that taking care of three bullies was a completely different matter from taking care of just one or two.

Suzume ran past the man(who actually seemed surprised) and tackled one of the bullies off of Alishie, wanting to do _something _to help her crush. She surprised herself when her attack actually worked and she and the bully were both sent spiraling into the ground roughly. The girl managed to turn her and the man's position so that the man was on bottom, and his head smacked into the cement ground rather violently. Blood splattered from his head; and Suzume started to feel a little queasy, but hey, they deserved this, right? The man groaned but seemed too weak to do anything else, so she got up and left him there.

Meanwhile, Dufort, who had recovered from the shock of seeing Suzume actually do something productive for once, grabbed another bully's arm and twisted it so that his arm nearly came out of his socket. He kicked him a few times in the gut to knock him down and once he saw that Alishie was dealing with the last bully on his own, he continued to beat the one he currently had under his control.

"Su-Suzume!" The blonde haired demon went unnoticed by the others until now; he couldn't stand to watch his brother violently murder the short guy who had just tackled him any longer. Tears were threatening to spill out of his golden eyes as he was forced to watch the violence occurring around him; was this really how the real world was like? He didn't like it one bit.

"Oh, Gash! Are you all right?" She ran over to the small child and cradled him in her arms gently, not trying to hurt him even though she knew she couldn't even if she tried. Gash started to sob into her shoulder.

"Ze-Zeon is…Zeon is really hurting the person who tried to hurt me…I think he's really going to kill him…!" Gash sobbed. Suzume shut her eyes, wanting to console him but unsure of what to say herself.

"Gash…Don't worry. I didn't kill him. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, is all." A familiar voice was heard from behind him, and Gash slowly turned around to see his brother drenched in crimson blood. The murderous glint he once saw in the silver haired twin's eyes had vanished completely, and so did the smile that scared him so. "…I'm sorry if I scared you."

Gash immediately ran out of Suzume's arms and into his brothers. He didn't care if the bullys' blood was soaking into his hair and mantle; he just wanted to forget everything that had happened, and the only way to do so was to find comfort in his brother, even if said brother was the worst one of them all.

Today was the worst bully circle ever…Things had never gotten this violent, not once. What had made today so different than yesterday, or the days before?

"Why is this town so violent? Why does everyone love hurting us so much?" Gash started to mumble in Zeon's bloody mantle, his golden eyes dull. He loosely held a piece of the silver fabric, acting as if Zeon would vanish to seriously kill people if he let go…

"That's…that's just how the world is, Gash. I'm sorry if I went too far this time." His apology was quick, but Gash could tell that his brother was very sincere. But this answer simply brought fresh tears to his eyes and he cried harder.

Suzume wiped the tears that threatened to spill out of her own eyes when she remembered her own person she cared so much about. She turned around and saw Alishie wiping his hands on his clothes, having successfully dealt with the bully he was left with. The girl immediately ran and embraced the older teenager in a tight hug, not wanting to let go.

"Alishie…" she muttered into his ear. "Are you okay?"

Alishie picked her up, sitting down and placing her back on his legs. "I'm fine. I just wonder if Gash is." He chuckled a bit. "Zeon nearly killed that guy. Shows how much he really cares for his brother, huh?" Suzume lightly punched his head.

"That's not funny." She said, her eyes fierce but her words held no malice as tears streamed down her face and she had a small smile on her lips. She sighed and hug her crush even tighter. Alishie sighed.

"I don't get it. This happens every single day. Why is everyone acting so different?"

"I think it's because of Zeon completely slaughtering the short guy and Kiyomaro actually passed out."

"Wait, Kiyomaro passed out?" Alishie raised his eyebrow. Then again, he was behind all of the others when they were caught. Suzume tried to laugh, but it came out sounding hollow.

"Yeah. That's because the guy who restrained him was really fat." She spread her arms in front of her stomach to show just how large the bully actually was. "And frail little Kiyomaro couldn't handle his weight." She smiled, as if she was telling as story to a young child. Alishie stood and picked her up bridal style.

"Then let's go see how Kiyomaro is now." He started walking over to the direction where Dufort had placed Kiyomaro.

When he got there(which actually took only a few seconds), Dufort had already taken care of his own bully and there were no more enemies in sight. The man was now talking softly to the teenager who was still leaning on the fence, but at least now he was awake.

"He looks tired." Alishie said, placing Suzume back on her feet. The girl giggled.

"I'd be tired too, if a fat man came and sat on me!"

"Shut up…" Kiyomaro groaned, having heard the two. This only made Suzume laugh even more, but she knelt down to his level and checked his forehead.

"Are you okay? No bones crushed or anything?" She honestly didn't know why she was checking his forehead, but it seemed to be the most appropriate thing to do at the time. Kiyomaro himself was confused by her actions, but he didn't swat her hand away.

"No. I'm fine." He sighed and tried to stand up, only to have Dufort pick him up and place him back over his shoulder. "H-hey! I can walk, you know!"

"I know. I just like carrying you like this. You're really light." Dufort said offhandedly and started walking over to the two twins.

"Let me down, Dufort!" Kiyomaro started to weakly pound the older male's back. This only increased Dufort's want to hold him. "Stop carrying me like this!"

"Okay, fine."

Dufort let Kiyomaro down from his shoulders, and the teenager sighed in relief and started dusting himself off when the man picked him up again and held him bridal style.

"What the hell, Dufort?"

Dufort's response was a kiss on the surprised teenager's lips. After that, Kiyomaro didn't complain, and that was just fine with the man who was holding him. That didn't necessarily mean he had come to actually like the position, however. As if Dufort read his mind, Kiyomaro felt himself being pressed tighter to the man, and his face flushed bright red and the very close contact.

"When we get home, take a shower. I don't want that bastard's filthy germs on you."

"What the hell? We still have to go to school, Dufort."

"No. We're going home."

"No! I need to go to school-" another kiss on the lips silenced the teenager.

Dufort had finally finished his walk to the two twins(why had he taken that long to walk to begin with anyway?), and saw that Gash was no longer crying or clutching onto his dear twin brother anymore. Instead, a large smile was on his face, and Kiyomaro raised an eyebrow in suspicion, then he looked towards Zeon, knowing the twin had something to do with his demons suddenly happy attitude.

"I promised him sixty two yellowtail when we got home." Zeon said as if he actually had that much. Kiyomaro's eyebrow twitched.

"The water's polluted."

"We'll buy some."

"We don't have the money."

"We'll steal from the bank."

"There is no reliable bank in this town."

"We'll go to a neighboring one."

"It'll take too long to get there."

"We'll use my mantle to make it there faster."

"There's too many people to fit in your mantle."

"We'll leave you behind."

"You're using my money."

"What makes you think I care?"

"Damn it, Zeon, can't you see I'm trying to say no?"

"I can see that perfectly clearly, but what my brother wants, my brother gets."

Kiyomaro's eye twitched in annoyance, but he decided to stop the conversation there. Alishie and Suzume had made it to them, and noticed Gash's surprisingly happy mood."

"What's with-"

"Don't ask." Kiyomaro interrupted Alishie before the older teenager could even finish his question. Zeon started laughing evilly, which got Gash to laugh, which got Suzume to laugh. Alishie decided to join his crush, and Kiyomaro couldn't sense anything even remotely humorous about the situation at all.

If the two protectors, Zeon and Dufort, hadn't arrived, who knew what would have happened to them? This is why the three teenagers(and Gash) rely on them so much; they were the strongest, and they knew that they could count on them when needed.

It was their duty to protect the ones they care about, and they would do anything to live up to that duty and their reputations.


	16. Rip

**A/N: Moar Alternate Universe because this prompt wouldn't fit anywhere else.**

**Except…this is a completely different AU from yesterday's. This one may be AU, but it does NOT take place in the same universe as yesterday's did.**

**And I will not be turning this universe into a story, lol.**

**Prompt: Rip  
Words(without A/N): 2,006  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

The moon glimmered brightly in the night sky, the rays of light emitting from it reaching the earth and giving everything an eerie glow. The only sounds to be heard were the cries of the small insects as they scampered about for survival. It was hopeless; they were meant to die at some point anyway, it was just how the life cycle worked. What was the point of trying to stay alive if you were just going to die at the end?

A crunching sound disturbed the peaceful night, and the small bugs quickly moved out of the way to avoid being crushed by the much larger foot. They settled on sitting atop grass blades, not far away but not to close to the large creature making its way through the field.

The small being stopped in front of a quivering creature; its silver eyes dulled out completely. It was as if the person who was harboring them was dead; but that couldn't be, he was just walking a second ago. The dull grey eyes flickered down to the inferior creature beneath him. Ah, there it was, a sign of life. The silver haired being's foot tapped the poor creature's side, and said creature moaned and rolled over on its back rather ungracefully.

"Still alive down there?"

His response was a shaky smile. Zeon frowned. This being was in no position to grin at him. His life could be gone in a second if he provoked the demon too much. The demon's foot connected with the creature's side again, except this time much more forcefully. A moan escaped from the victim's lips as he was forcibly turned over again, laying on its uninjured side.

Zeon reached into his cloak and pulled out a flashlight so he could see just how damaged the human beneath him was. Flick, and on came the light. He shone it down on the human's face, and saw the blood trailing from his head rather quickly, staining the grass around him. On his side was a rather large gash, which was still bleeding and needed to be taken care of immediately if he didn't want it to get infected…which he seemed to not care.

"Gash is worried, you know. Disappearing like that. Suzume was in hysterics, too."

"Not my…fault…"

Zeon sighed. "So are you going to come back?"

"No…not after I betrayed them all like that…"

"Betrayed us? We thought you were either kidnapped or you just simply ran away. I assumed the latter. Couldn't handle the pressure of staying with a group of people like us, huh?" His voice showed a small sign of amusement, but his face proved otherwise.

"That's not it…" The human groaned, and started gasping for breath. It seemed that his death was coming quicker and quicker ever since the arrival of the demon. The two never really were fond of each other, whatnot with their completely contrasting personalities. "Why did you come here…?"

"To take you back. I'm not going to have my brother cry just because a pathetic human like you died. It really was stupid of you to run out here, even when you know exactly what kind of beings were out in the real world. Unless…you wanted them to kill you? I assume that's why you're laying there bleeding to your death now. It must hurt a lot."

A small whimper from the human was all the confirmation Zeon needed that it did indeed hurt. His eyelids started to droop, and his vision started to blur; darkness creeped along the edge of his eyes, and it was just oh so tempting to just give into it…

"You know, I thought you were stronger than this. You always protected those three, saying that they could rely on you. Who are they going to rely on when you die?"

"You and Dufort, right…?" He surprised himself when he could remember the latter man's name. The teenager could hardly remember anything now; including his own name…Why was it that he was able to remember Dufort's? "Zeon…" he said softly, testing his memory to see if he could even remember the one who was speaking so coldly to him now.

Zeon raised an eyebrow, but he continued on his rant. "True, we could protect them. Sometimes we have to rescue you, too, so maybe it's better if I just let you die here right now; that would be one less person to take care of."

"Nobody is stopping you, Zeon…"

The demon contemplated on just leaving the teenager there to die for a moment before imagining the outcome of what would happen if he did so.

**OoO**

"Zeon…!" Gash would say, clutching his brother's arms and sobbing into his mantle uncontrollably. "Why…Why didn't you bring him back?"

"I couldn't find him." Zeon could easily lie, but it tortured him inside to lie to his own brother, the mirror image of himself whom he cared for so much. But this was necessary, right? It was to lessen the impact.

Suzume would be sitting on the couch, hugging her knees to herself, her eyes hut as tears flowed out of them. Sooner or later she would cry herself to sleep at the loss of someone so important to her.

As for Dufort…the man wouldn't be anywhere near the living room, and who knew where he would be. He could be upstairs, in the kitchen, or maybe even outside to look for the teenager himself. Sure, he acted like he didn't care for him on the outside, but…he had gotten so used to him; life would take a drastic change if the teenager didn't return.

The lightning blonds sobbing continued to rise in volume, and Zeon was snapped out of his thoughts. He was then torn between telling his brother the truth, or to simply keep up his lie that he was bound to forget later. It was probably better to just admit the truth, but he didn't want to hurt his brother so much anymore…

**OoO**

Zeon shook his head to get rid of the unwanted thoughts, then he glared down at the human below him. He was losing consciousness, and he couldn't help but grin at the usually strong human's rare side of weakness. His smirk then vanished almost as suddenly as it appeared; wait, no. The teenager dying was bad. Very bad.

He used his mantle to carefully wrap the human in; there was no point in harming him any further when he was in such critical condition anyway. Zeon wasn't in a rush to get anywhere, but he didn't want to spend much time here either. The cicadas' and crickets' cries were pounding in his ears, almost taunting him to just _hurry the hell up _and _make _a freaking choice already. But he had already made his choice; didn't he? He was going to save the human, then see how the teenager would pay him back later.

The human whimpered when Zeon's mantle had flipped him over again; it hurt so badly…but he had received worse damage than this, right? What he didn't know was _why _Zeon was helping him; their relationship was never the best. He then quickly decided that it was for Gash's sake, and possibly even Suzume's. Ah, Suzume…how he remembered her dearly.

The silver mantle continued to wrap around him until he was completely covered in the soft fabric. Hnn…was Gash's mantle this soft? He didn't know, as he had never really gotten close to the bright demon before. But Zeon's mantle…he could call it a bed if the demon would allow him to.

"Don't fall asleep."

Those three words made the human wonder how Zeon knew what he was thinking, before it hit him. Zeon _didn't _know what he was thinking. He was just trying to get him to stay alive. Well…that was fine, right? He decided to humor the small demon. Zeon had come all this way just to get him(they didn't even know each other all that much, anyway), so he decided to stay alive.

He didn't know if the others really were as worried as Zeon said, but he shrugged it off. This was for them, right? If he returned just to see them acting normal…he'd probably run away again. Then again, he was dying. This was a completely different case as if he just simply went grocery shopping and ended up coming home a little late. He really ran away, to just escape from it all…hopefully returning home was worth it.

The fabric suddenly clenched in on him, and he thought he was going to suffocate; then suddenly the mantle loosened and he was dropped to the floor like a rag doll. He groaned in pain, and he realized that he was back in the living room of his house. Zeon…had teleported the both of them back.

The human groggily lifted his head to see the silver haired demon place the flashlight back in his cloak, and he noticed that the left side of Zeon's mantle was completely covered in blood…oh well. He then realized that just because he was home, that didn't necessarily mean he was going to live. The wounds on his head and side were still bleeding quickly, and his vision still continued to waver and distort…maybe he _wasn't _going to make it.

"I brought him back," Zeon called out to the residents of the house. "You may want to check on him before he, oh I don't know…bleeds to death?"

Footsteps echoed loudly in the teenager's drums as the light was switched on. He lifted his head once more to see the blonde haired demon by the light switch, Suzume and Dufort right behind him. Another person walked down the staircase, and he looked at the two newcomers with surprise etched on his face.

"Ze-Zeon! You brought him back!" Gash shouted happily, but then he realized just how much of a critical condition the human was in.

Suzume had immediately burst into tears when she saw the two; so he wasn't dead! But…why had he run away? Did she do something to hurt him? But as if he had read her mind, the injured human spoke in a hoarse voice;

"I'm sorry…I ran away for a stupid reason." He laughed, but stopped when it hurt his side. "Please forgive me."

"You ran away? You're so stupid." The teenager on the other side of the room scoffed before he walked over to him and inspected him. "But…You're hurt badly. I guess we can get the answers out of you later. Hey Dufort, can you help me carry him to the bedroom?"

"No." Dufort's answer was sharp and quick, and the teenager raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Bring him to the basement; I'm not going to clean bloodstained blankets."

"Oh…okay, then…But I kind of asked you to help me carry him…"

Dufort sighed and looked towards Zeon, who groaned.

"I don't want to teleport him to the basement. Hell, I just teleported him to the house! Isn't that enough?" Dufort narrowed his eyes, and the demon moaned in defeat. "Fine! Move, Kiyomaro. I'm not carrying you, too."

"No one said you had to!" Kiyomaro rose from his kneeling position and stepped back. Zeon had wrapped his mantle around the injured human, and the two were gone in an instant. "Okay…to the basement we go!" The teenager's voice sounded oddly chipper as he grabbed Dufort's arms and dragged him downstairs to the basement.

"Unuu…is Suzume all right?" Gash asked once the two were alone.

"Y-yes, Gash…I'm okay. I'm just glad to see that he's safe. So, so glad…" She whispered to herself.

"Unuu! Dufort and Kiyomaro are really good healers with their answer talker ability! I'm sure Alishie will be treated and he'll be up and running again by tomorrow! But I'm going to ask you to help me make sure that he doesn't run away again, okay?"

"Of-of course!" Suzume nodded her head vigorously.

"Okay, then! Let's go see how he's doing so far!"

**OoO**

**A/N: How many of you thought that the injured human was Kiyomaro? :P**


	17. Missing Time

********

A/N: Kind of a prequel to last chapter, since some people wanted to know why Alishie ran away. I dunno if this will clear it up or not, but this is the last thing I'm doing for this universe. xDD

And yes! I succeeded in confusing everyone last chapter! (Yes, that was my goal.) xDD

Prompt: Missing Time  
Words(without A/N): 1,672  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.

OoO

The one day that Alishie was gone felt like years.

The five residents of the house had originally thought that he was hiding somewhere in the rather large house; there was no way he could be outside. Monsters lived there; many demons who wouldn't hesitate to kill. Gash, Zeon, and Riya happened to be three of the harmless ones(Kiyomaro jokingly said once that he doubted Zeon was really one of the harmless demons. Zeon kicked him. Kiyomaro kicked back.), but unfortunately, the horrid ones terribly outnumbered them.

There was no doubt that there were more harmless demons outside, but they just couldn't take the chance to go out in search of them.

Of course, nobody liked being crammed in a single house for their entire lives; who would? But it was necessary for survival, lest they risk being mauled by the bloodthirsty demons rampaging the outside world. It was true that you needed the help of a human partner to cast spells, but that was only true in a duel type scenario. The demons that marched around the world as if they owned it(which they most likely did), did not require the use of a human. Any being they see that's not their own, they would obliterate it in seconds.

Riya proposed the idea of demons kidnapping Alishie; but Kiyomaro was the one who quickly scrapped that idea, saying that the entire house would be destroyed in search of anyone else who lived there if that happened. After all, the demons hardly stopped after just one enemy if they knew there were more.

It finally dawned on them all a few hours that he had ran away, but they couldn't figure out exactly why. They(mostly Zeon) decided to beat the answers out of Alishie when he got back…._If _he got back, that was.

They were about to go searching for him when a loud pounding emitted from the front door and before anybody could even react the door burst open and ran into a human and a demon, and they slammed the door shut behind them, breathing heavily with tears streaming down their cheeks.

Zeon was immediately going to order Dufort to get the book out, but once he realized who the two intruders were, he groaned and smacked his forehead. Of course the two idiots had to run all the way to their house in plain sight; but maybe the evil demons knew that the duo were useless and saw no point in killing them…Then again, the demons killed anyone and everyone they saw. Maybe it was a bit too early to jump to conclusions.

Kiyomaro groaned. "What the hell do you want, Folgore?"

The man in question let out a wail and immediately flung his arms around the smaller teenager's waist and sobbing into his stomach. Kiyomaro raised an eye at this, but otherwise said nothing. Dufort in the background gave Folgore a threatening glare that could easily be interpreted as: '_let go of him or I will freaking kill you_', but the Italian man seemed to not notice and continued to hold Kiyomaro tightly.

"Oh my-it's awful! Plain awful!" Folgore sobbed. Kiyomaro attempted to pry the older man off him, but that only succeeded in suffocating him even more. The teenager could practically _feel _the anger of Dufort behind him, and so Kiyomaro decided that he needed Folgore to let go of him _now _or else he'd be the who would have to clean the bloodshed. And he was most certainly not looking forward to that.

"Okay, yeah, get off me now."

"But Folgore's pride has been wounded! Wounded!" Kyanchome shrieked, waving the lollipop in his hand around wildly. "You have to help him in his time of need and-" he froze, now seeing the reason why Kiyomaro wanted his spell caster off him. The duck demon saw Dufort slowly inching closer and closer, and he broke out in hysterics. "No! Stop! Don't hurt Folgoreeeee!"

"Dufort, stay." Kiyomaro commanded, and the man reluctantly agreed. On the couch, Gash, Zeon, and Suzume(mostly Gash and Suzume) stared in wonder; wondering how and why Dufort would listen to the teenager so suddenly like that. But then they decided that that didn't really matter now, and that they needed to see what was wrong with Folgore. "So why are you here?"

"Uh…" Folgore finally dropped his arms from the teenager's waist and slowly stood up to regain his posture. Kiyomaro scoffed; he honestly didn't understand the man's need to contain his dignity, he lost pretty much all of it in that little act five seconds ago. And possibly even before that; oh how well he knew of the man's perverted ways… "Well, Alishie is missing, right?"

Kiyomaro raised his eyebrow. "How did you know that?"

"Because I just saw him ten minutes ago!" The man started failing his arms about wildly. "He walked past our window so we went out to say hi!"

"…" Kiyomaro wasn't sure how to react to that. Instead he nodded his head; insisting for the man to go on.

"And, well…We were wondering what he was doing, just walking around in the open like that…"

"And then he told us that he was tired of being cooped up in this house and that he needed fresh air!"

"Is that man crazy?" Suzume shouted, interrupting everyone. "He knows the dangers of being outside; he could be killed! He could be dead right now!"

"I know, I know!" Folgore attempted to calm her down. "So then we told him that, and he said that he could handle it then he pushed us aside and continued walking. I think he was going to the place where his village was destroyed by those demons a couple of years back…"

"Why would he be doing that?"

"I 'unno, the kid was feeling nostalgic or something." Folgore waved his hand dismissively. "So anyway, we were going to follow him, then he told us not to, like he read our minds or something. Then…then this explosion came out of nowhere! Then Kyanchome and I started screaming once we found out it was a demon attack."

"No duh," Kiyomaro scoffed. "That's what you get for being outside so defenseless, and honestly, even if you did have something to protect yourselves with, they'll still maul you."

"How could you say that?" Folgore wailed, wrapping his arms around Kiyomaro's waist again. The teenager groaned; he was really getting tired of this. He felt Dufort slowly marching closer and closer, but Kiyomaro held up a hand to stop his advances. Dufort reluctantly obliged. A few minutes later, Folgore had calmed down and he stood back up as if nothing had happened. "So then we all started to run. We lost sight of Alishie about…five minutes before we got here."

"And why didn't you bring him with you? Why couldn't you have stayed with him?" Suzume shouted; not willing to accept the fact that Alishie could have been facing the powerful demons all by himself. He wouldn't stand a chance…!

"Suzume…What could Kyanchome and Folgore have done?" Gash slowly turned his head to her, looking up at the female with his brought golden eyes. Suzume couldn't bring herself to argue with the six year old, and she sighed and slumped over the couch in defeat.

"We couldn't do anything…" Kyanchome sighed. "They were just too powerful."

"Don't say that before actually fighting them." Kiyomaro sighed, but no one snapped back or commented. He then looked back up at Folgore. "So do you have any idea on where Alishie is now?"

"Er…I think he's somewhere near that forest, with that really tall grass in front of it?"

"He's what?" Suzume gawked, but Zeon silenced her with a glare to stop interrupting. Suzume huffed; she couldn't help it…! She had a crush on Alishie, it was natural for her to be this worried, right? The girl took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. No use in getting so worked up like this, she thought.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you anymore!" Folgore wailed, reaching down to hug Kiyomaro again. This time Dufort reacted faster and kicked both the human and his annoying demon partner out the door.

"Go home." was all the man said before shutting the door on them.

Kiyomaro turned around, ignoring the pleas and apologies outside the front door. "So…I guess we should go looking for him?"

"I'll go." Zeon hopped off the couch. "I'm not doing anything else, anyway."

"I-I'll go with you!" Gash jumped off and started to follow him. "I don't want you to go alone!"

"And I don't want you to come with me on the off chance I run into a demon." Zeon sighed before hugging his brother tightly. "Don't worry, I'll come back with him."

Gash nodded with tears in his eyes. Kiyomaro sighed and started walking to the kitchen.

"I'm sure Alishie can hold his own in a fight, whether the opponent is a human or a demon. Hey Suzume, come help me make tonight's dinner, okay?"

The time ticked by slowly as Gash anticipated his brother's return, and he hoped that Alishie would be with him. What if Zeon couldn't find him? He shook his head. No. Zeon _will _find Alishie. And if he doesn't, then he'll drag everyone outside tomorrow, demons or not, to go searching for him. Riya decided to occupy himself by poking Gash's cheek over and over. The lightning blonde never seemed to have minded.

Right after they had all eaten and went upstairs to go to bed, the light flicked on downstairs and Zeon's voice rang throughout the house. Gash was first to run down the steps, ready to see what condition the two were in. Alishie didn't seem all that right, but Zeon was fine.

Eh, Dufort and Kiyomaro were excellent healers. Alishie was sure to be fine in no time.

And it was when they found out that Alishie was going to be okay where time continued to pass by normally.


	18. Crest

**A/N: I got my new microphone today! The recording quality is amazingggg~ - 3 -**

**Prompt: Crest  
Words(without A/N): 1,171  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"So, like I said, I am going to ride on the very top of that wave, jump off the surfboard, and crash into Kiyomaro. If I'm lucky, I may be able to hit his head on something."

"Zeon!"

The teenager attempted to kick the silver haired demon, only for said demon to grab a hold of his suspended foot and trip him. Kiyomaro flailed his arms, trying to grab a hold of something before he hit the ground, only to have nothing to grab on to, thus proving his efforts fruitless. Zeon cackled at the sight of the teenager sprawled out on the sandy beach.

Something poked Zeon's side, and the demon turned around to snap at the person but then stopped himself before he could. There stood Gash innocently, holding a bright red surfboard in one arm and a silver colored one in the other. A large grin spread on Zeon's face before he took the silver one from his brother and spun around to face the ocean, making sure to hit Kiyomaro with it along the way. A yelp from the teenager confirmed that he had hit his target, and he snickered.

"Ki-Kiyomaro!" Gash shouted with worry, running over to the dazed human. Kiyomaro held his head and glared at the silver haired demon, and only smirked in response. Dufort had come up from behind them and pulled Kiyomaro's arm, bringing the teenager to a standing position.

"So…I'm going to go surfing now, okay?" Zeon didn't wait for a response before he ran off to the waves. Gash started to sit down and attempt to make a sandcastle. 'Attempt' being the key word.

"…Gash," Kiyomaro started. "Aren't you going to go with Zeon?"

"Unuu, not yet." Gash replied, patting the wet sand with his small hands. "I want to finish making this sandcastle! Does Kiyomaro want to help? Dufort can help, too!"

Kiyomaro turned to the older man, who didn't give a response. Instead, Dufort just…_stared_ at him. The teenager started to feel slightly uncomfortable by the stare and turned back to Gash and nodded his head. "Ah, sure. I'll help."

He knelt down to help his demon partner shape the sandcastle. Dufort had finally managed to break his own stare and he looked towards the ocean to see how Zeon was doing. After scanning the water for a few moments, he found Zeon quite far off in the water, surfing on a particularly large wave. He raised an eyebrow. He never figured Zeon to be the surfing type of person.

"Gash! You aren't supposed to stomp on what we've done so far!" Dufort heard Kiyomaro shout, and the man looked down at the human and demon pair. The teenager was now standing up, and the sandcastle they were creating was now a giant mound of wet sand. Gash was also standing; and his from his knees down he was covered in sand.

"Sorry, Kiyomaro…" Gash looked down, but then he perked up. "But I saw Zeon do it a lot of times to the other children in the beach! I asked him if that was wrong to do, and he said that it was okay because half-made sandcastles were supposed to be destroyed while finished ones weren't as good."

"Zeon…" Kiyomaro growled, then stomped over to the ocean. Before he was actually knee deep in the water, he found the demon he was looking for riding on the crest of the wave; heading closer and closer to shore. The teenager figured he would interrogate the demon when that happened.

The wave started to get lower and lower, and Zeon growled. "I wanted this to go higher…" He looked up and saw just how far he was from the shore…and more specifically, Kiyomaro. "Whatever; this should still do!" He grinned manically and prepared to jump off his surfboard. Before he actually jumped, he noticed the mound of sand Gash was standing in front of. "Haha! He actually did it!"

Dufort shook his head and walked over to Kiyomaro and whispered in the teenager's ear. Kiyomaro's eyes widened, but that quickly turned into an unamused frown.

"He's going to _what?_ Oh, I'll get that demon, you'll see…" The human muttered. Dufort shrugged and took a few steps backwards, unsure of what Kiyomaro was planning to do. All he knew was that he shouldn't be anywhere near the teenager when he retaliated against Zeon.

The demon in question finally decided that now was the time to jump, and jump he did, leaving his surfboard behind. He tried to fly as far as he could, and he snickered when he saw that the teenager wasn't even looking at him anymore. Instead, he was looking at Gash, who was desperately trying to rebuild the destroyed sandcastle on his own.

Zeon kept his mouth shut; not wanting to alert Kiyomaro of his presence just yet. Right when he was about to open his mouth, Kiyomaro turned to look at him. Zeon smirk grew larger; there's no way Kiyomaro would be able to dodge him!…That was when he noticed the evil smirk on the teenager's face.

"Wait, did he _know _was I was planning to do? But how? Unless…Dufort!" Zeon screeched before Kiyomaro bent over, allowing the demon to fly past his head. Before he could fly completely past, however, the teenager he was trying to hit grabbed his ankle and swung him around a few times before letting go, and Zeon fell shouting into the water.

"Haha! That's what you get for trying to hit me, Zeon!" Kiyomaro grinned. "And guess what? If you try that again, I'm going to do something much worse!"

"Oh, please!" Zeon shot out from the water. "You think I'm going to fall for that again? No way; I'm just going to have to think of a different way to hurt you, that's all!" He laughed at Kiyomaro's annoyed face.

"Ki-Kiyomaro!" Gash shouted, tears in his eyes. "I can't rebuild the sandcastle!"

"Then you shouldn't have destroyed it in the first place!"

"I'm sorry, but it just looked so, so tempting! Plus, Zeon said it was okay!"

"Yeah, let him listen to his big brother! After all, Zeon is always right!"

"Shut up, Zeon!" Kiyomaro shouted at the demon in the water. He then turned back to Gash. "Ignore him! Zeon is _not _always right! He's evil! Don't listen to anything he says!"

"Hey Gash! I'll dive for seventy two yellowtail if you tackle Kiyomaro in the water!" Zeon growled. Not even a second passed before a hard force collided with Kiyomaro's stomach and the teenager went tumbling in the water, screaming at the top of his lungs. Zeon was beside himself with laughter, and Gash had sparkles in his eyes while thinking of all the yellowtail.

Dufort walked in the water and helped Kiyomaro up, holding him close. "Are you okay?" He wasn't really expecting the teenager to answer, but he could very well imagine what his reply would be.

"I hate Zeon. I hate him so much."


	19. Itch

**A/N: My voice…MY VOICE! I honestly DID NOT KNOW I could do that with my voice. Like, seriously. I sang a song for Adolescence(a Vocaloid song; it's really good), and it's by Len and Rin, a boy and a girl.**

**So I had to change my voice, right?**

**LEN'S PART. OH. MY. GODDDDDDDDD. I DID NOT KNOW that I could go that low. And now I'm probably going to have a sore throat tomorrow. DDD(**

**And…I actually have something important to say today as well. This is basically a reply to an anonymous reviewer(who later signed in their account), but I'd like for everyone to read this.**

**The reason Dufort and Kiyomaro don't go much beyond kissing is really for the purpose of this story's rating. Scroll to the top of the screen and look at the Rating. See it? It's rated 'T'. Which means the only thing I can basically make them do is kiss, hug, cuddle, etc. I do not want to go about the T rating. Heck, I had to HOLD BACK on some certain chapters just for that purpose. You aren't going to find anything of a lemon here; for I want everyone to be able to read this story, not just older people. (And heck; I don't know if I'd ever get the guts to write a lemon in the first place…;;)**

**So yeah. And also, you all know I update just **_**once **_**a day, right? I will not upload more than one chapter per day. The time I actually upload a new chapter everyday is close to midnight. (Except in DaRkZeRoGaL's case, because in her time zone, it's morning for her when I update…LOL.) If you live anywhere near my time zone, then the oneshots should hold you over until the next day.**

**And that's all I have to say about that.**

**Sorry for the (really long) AN this time; but I really wanted to point that out.**

**Enjoy!**

**Prompt: Itch  
Words(without A/N): 1,521  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

Have you ever had an itch where no matter how hard you scratch, it _just won't go away?_ Well, Kiyomaro had something of the sort, except it wasn't an actual itch anywhere on his body. No, this itch existed in reality, and no matter how hard the teenager tried to get rid of it, it would never disappear, and even if it did, it would come back with a much stronger force than before.

And its name was Zeon.

"Damn it, Zeon! Stop teaching Gash bad things!"

"Define 'bad things'."

"You know! Like the jumping on unfinished sandcastles, the stealing food from our neighbors when we don't have it, the taking people's wallets when they aren't looking, the annoying the living hell out of me!" Kiyomaro shouted at the demon, who looked completely unfazed.

"Those do not classify as 'bad things' in my book. You know, if you didn't live in a world where manners were top priority and there were no evil anywhere in the world, you'd know that these things depend on survival. And by doing those things, we can keep on surviving, so that we will one day marry and have children and do the…mating ritual together."

"…Mating ritual? You do know what you're talking about, right?"

"Why yes, I do. But because Gash is right behind you on the computer completely destroying your homework like I told him to, I shall not say the actual word aloud. Now move aside, weak human." Zeon ended the conversation abruptly and pushed the teenager out of his way and climbed up onto the desk to see how much of a good job his twin brother was doing. The silver haired demon nodded every few seconds or so, showing his approval.

"Ugh. Dufort! He's your demon; control him!" Kiyomaro ordered. Dufort, who was sitting on the bed, didn't answer. Instead, he just started staring at the teenager. Kiyomaro then realized that the stare was pretty much exactly like the stare the man gave him at the beach the other day. "…Why are you staring at me?"

"Why, am I not allowed to?" He wasn't really expecting an actual response from the mostly silent man, so he didn't have an answer to his question at the ready. Kiyomaro shook his head an frowned.

"No. You're not allowed to stare at me. It makes me feel uncomfortable. Why do you keep doing that, anyway?"

"Because I can."

"Well, I now forbid you from staring at me. There. Now you can't."

"I'm older, therefore I ignore that ban. If I want to stare at you, I shall do so. And I feel like staring at you right now."

"Why do you do that?"

"Because I can."

"Ugh!" Kiyomaro threw his arms up in the air and groaned loudly. He squeezed his eyes shut and started rubbing his temples in an attempt to make the incoming headache go away. _I will not lose control, I will not lose control, I will not lose control, I will not lose control…_

"Hey, Kiyomaro! What happens if I push control, alt, delete many times?"

"…Why do you want to know that?" The teenager just _knew_, oh, he _knew,_ that Gash's sudden question had come from Zeon. There was no other way. Gash wouldn't know what or where the control, alt, and delete buttons even were, and Kiyomaro definitely preferred it that way. Ever since Zeon and Dufort moved in with them, the lightning blonde had gotten more intelligent, sure, but not in the good way.

"Zeon told me that something would happen if I pushed it. I don't want to blow up your computer, or anything, so I wanted to ask you first!"

"The computer will shut down."

"Oh, really? I didn't know that!" a voice that was _definitely not the high pitched voice of Gash _spoke up. Kiyomaro nearly groaned again. Zeon started cackling evilly. "Hey, Gash, let's push all three buttons multiple times! You take care of the control and alt buttons while I take care of the delete ones!"

"Do you even know what buttons they are?" Kiyomaro asked, positive that the demon didn't know and he could save his homework from being completely deleted. …What was left of his homework, anyway.

"Of course I do! The control button is the 'c-t-r-l' one, the alt button is the one that says 'alt', and the delete button is the one that says 'del'! It's so easy to read!"

"…You can read?" That had slipped out of Kiyomaro's mouth before he could stop himself, but he decided that in the end, it didn't really matter, because he really didn't know that Zeon could read. He always assumed that the silver haired demon deemed reading as being 'too boring, hey Gash, let's go burn all the books in the library for fun!'. Too bad the two demons really were off to burn the entire selection of library books before Kiyomaro and Dufort found, stopped, and caught them.

A thick binder collided with the back of Kiyomaro's head, and the teenager fell to the ground with a thump. He heard footsteps and felt someone rubbing the now bruised area on the back of his head, and he immediately thought it was Dufort. Zeon wouldn't do that even if someone paid him, and the hand was too big to be Gash's.

"Don't patronize me, human." Zeon growled, narrowing his eyes dangerously. His signature toothy smirk returned to his face a second later when he looked back down on the keyboard. "Ready to make the computer die, Gash?"

"What? Nooooo! I don't want to kill the computer! Please, Zeon! Please don't make me kill the computer!" Gash jumped from his seat and wrapped his tiny arms around the monitor, as if he could protect it from sudden death with his own body.

Zeon sighed. "It's not going to die, Gash. I just said that to make it sound worse than it will be."

"So we're not going to kill the computer?"

"…No, we are not going to kill the computer."

"Okay!" Gash ended his hug with the monitor screen and jumped back on the chair. He giggled when it made a squeaking noise from his landing. The demon then found the control and alt buttons, ready to push down with his small, stubby fingers.

Zeon meanwhile had found his own delete button(although it took him a while to find it at the top corner of the keyboard), and snickered.

Kiyomaro looked up from his position on the floor to see the two demons about to push the buttons. He turned to the man next to him with pleading eyes, silently asking him to stop the two before they shut off his computer.

"You can't do anything, and I can't do anything. That's fact. Deal with it." He then pulled the smaller male into a tight hug and started leaving light kisses on the top of his head, ignoring Kiyomaro's struggles to get free.

"Go!" Zeon shouted, and the two demons started bashing the buttons they were in control of. The silver haired demon laughed maniacally when the computer started to make loud beeping noises. Gash wasn't sure if that was supposed to happen, but he continued on smashing the buttons anyway because hey, if Zeon was happy, then he must be doing something good!

Kiyomaro meanwhile had completely given up on trying to escape Dufort's strong grasp, and silently wept as the two demons completely destroyed all that was left of his homework essay. Although he was pretty much blind to everything around him and deaf to all noises, he could still feel everything the older man did to him and had to stop Dufort from bringing his hand up his shirt.

"You do that and I will bite you."

"Hm, sounds interesting. Anything else you'll do to me?" Instead of answering, Kiyomaro whacked Dufort's head.

Oddly enough, as soon as he did that, the lights flickered, and everything in the room went black. "Whoa, what the hell?" Everyone heard Zeon shout.

"Great job, Zeon, you killed the power!" Gash shouted. Kiyomaro was surprised; when had Gash ever learned to talk like that? He then realized and shook his head, growling softly the whole while.

"Zeon! Stop teaching Gash obscenities!"

"But it wasn't even that strong!"

"No more! And Dufort, stop doing that!"

"It's dark."

"I don't care! I'm going to see if anyone else had the same power outage as us. And in order to do that, I have to stand up! Which means I have to get out of your arms! Which means you have to let me go!"

"Nah, I like you right here."

"Dufort!" It was then that Kiyomaro decided that a new itch was forming, and his name was Dufort.

But he wasn't so eager to get rid of this new one as much as Zeon.

"Hey Gash, let's go steal the neighbor's dog! It's dark both in and out; no one will see!"

"Zeon!"

Kiyomaro _really _wanted the Zeon itch to disappear and never come back. But that's just something he'll have to live with.


	20. Explode

**A/N: Not much to say today other than I'm going to be singing a seven minute song a few seconds after I upload this. FUN.**

**Also, this chapter is mostly dialogue. Because I felt like it, lol.**

**Prompt: Explode  
Words(without A/N): 1,092  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

Once upon a time, there was a very annoying demon named Gash. He had an even more annoying brother named Zeon. One day, the two demons were bothering the poor teenager named Kiyomaro so much that he wished they would explode. Five seconds later, both of the two twin demons exploded.

The end.

…Or so, that's what Kiyomaro wanted to happen.

After the teenager managed to stop the two twin demons from stealing their neighbor's dog, the four people stuck in the teenager's room wanted something to do to pass the time. Then Zeon came up with an idea.

"Let's destroy everything in this room! Whoever gets Kiyomaro ticked off the most wins!"

"Hell no!"

The electricity still hadn't returned to the house. Kiyomaro was beginning to think that the demons were even more annoying when he couldn't even see them. He felt another hand going up his shirt, and he slapped Dufort. "I thought I told you to stop that!"

"I honestly don't care what you think. So there." And the man continued his advances, much to the teenager's dismay.

"Hehe. Too bad I don't have a video camera with me to record the sight of Dufort molesting Kiyomaro."

"Zeon, two things. One, Dufort does this every single day, even though I tell him not to. Two, it's too dark to see anything, anyway. …On second thought, make that three things. Three, where the hell did you even learn about molesting anyway?"

"Internet."

"When the hell did you get on the internet?"

"Whenever you're at school and you force us to stay at home." Zeon shrugged. "It's your choice. Either let us come to school with you, or force us to stay at home and fight off our boredom by going on the internet. I like the second option more, personally. I mean, there's so many things I learned! This is also where I learned about the 'mating ritual' thing anyway."

"It's not called a freaking 'mating ritual'! It's called se-"

"I know what it's called, you annoying weak human!" The silver haired demon cut the teenager off with a shout. "It's just that Gash is here, and I do not want to expose him to those kind of things!"

"…But you teach Gash other bad things like, oh, I don't know…stealing the neighbor's dog?"

"Hey, they deserve their dog to be missing and you know it. They called Gash a midget. What the hell is a midget anyway?"

"Wow. You know about sex, molesting, and anything of the kind, yet you don't know what a midget is?"

"I said don't use that word, human!" Zeon grabbed the nearest thing he could grab and flung it at where he thought the voice came from. A deep voice mumbled an 'ow'.

"Hehe, thanks, Zeon! You just saved me from the clutches of Dufort." Kiyomaro snickered, finally breaking free from the man's tight grasp and running to the other side of the room. "What did you throw at his head, anyway?"

"I dunno. A random ball or whatever."

"You threw the atlas at him!"

"If you knew, why did you ask?"

"Answer talker. It just answered now for some reason. But anyway, how the hell did you think that was a ball? I don't even own a ball!"

"You do now." Zeon pulled something round out of his cloak and threw it at the teenager's face, who fell down with a scream, knocking down everything around him at the same time.

"Whoa, what the hell? And…where did you get this ball?"

"Carnival."

"…The carnival we went to three months ago?"

"Yeah, sure. So answer me, what's a midget?"

"It's someone short for their age."

"Short? Of course Gash is short, he's six!"

"Did you only listen to half of my explanation? I said it's someone short for their age. And Zeon, you're a midget too. You're the exact same height as Gash."

"No! I'm two centimeters taller! And Gash is not short for his age, we're the perfect size for being six year olds!"

"…Zeon, you two barely reach my knee. I know a four year old who's taller than both of you."

"Lies!"

Zeon grabbed more things from the desk and flung them at the voice. A yelp convinced him that he had hit his target, and he snickered.

"Hey, Zeon!" Kiyomaro shouted in a false happy voice.

"What?"

"Why don't you go fall in a hole?"

"…What the hell? Why would I do that? Why couldn't you say 'why don't you jump off a cliff and die'? Is it that hard for you?"

"No…I was just trying to be different. But that saying works, too. Why don't you do that?"

"Tch, no way. Someone has to be here to protect Gash. Besides, falling from a cliff or into a hole is a stupid way to die. If I had to die, I'd choose a way that's fitting only for myself."

"What about exploding?" Gash entered the conversation with his bright and chipper voice. Zeon thought about it for a moment.

"Yes. Exploding. Explosions are cool, and so am I. So if I had to die, I'd choose to die by exploding. Which is impossible, so there you have it. I can not die."

"There's something called 'spontaneous human combustion', you know."

"What's that? And I'm not human! Therefore, if it's bad, then I can not have it!"

"…Okay, Zeon. Since demons are a lot like humans, I'm pretty sure demons can spontaneously combust as well. And if you spontaneously combust, that means you explode. It's possible, but extremely rare. Maybe if I'm lucky, it'll happen to you."

"…Wait. It really is possible to explode?"

"Nooooo! I don't want Zeon to explode!" Gash burst out into tears and hugged his brother tightly, not letting him go. Zeon wheezed, but did not push him off.

"So if I can explode, what's the result? Any ash around the place where I exploded?"

"Hm…I've only read about it, but I'm not sure. I think that yes, there will be soot at the place you exploded, and…there will be blood everywhere. It's pretty gruesome, I'm sure."

"Um…And how do they explode?"

"How the hell would I know? The book I read it from was extremely vague. Wait a minute, you aren't…afraid of it, are you? Like I said, it's extremely rare."

"'Extremely rare' does not mean impossible!" Zeon shouted. "Come on, Gash! We shall check the internet to learn more about this!"

"Electricity's still out." Kiyomaro pointed out in a bored voice.

"…Then we shall wait."

**OoO**

**A/N: About Spontaneous Human Combustion, I'm not making it up. I really did read about it somewhere, but like Kiyomaro said, it's very rare and nobody knows the cause of it. I think it was something about something inside the human body, but I'm not too sure. The book I read it from was kind of vague and only talked about it for one page.**

**But I did find the thought of it interesting. Maybe I'll look it up sometime to learn more about it. -cough- xDD**


	21. Rise

**A/N: Yay, I got a part in a chorus where basically people who sound like any of the Vocaloids audition for. I got Rin. ^^**

**Prompt: Rise  
Words(without A/N): 1,169  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

Kiyomaro's eye twitched as the light streamed in his window and hit his face. He groaned and rolled over on his bed, slapping his own face lightly a few times to get the burning sensation in his eyes to go away. It worked, and the teenager was sound asleep again in a matter of two seconds.

Gash yawned and sat up, rubbing his golden eyes tiredly. He looked around the room and saw Zeon sitting next to him. So his brother had protected him from his nightmares once more. Gash thought that he'd really like to return the favor someday. The demon looked towards Kiyomaro's bed and saw the teenager curled in a ball-like position and Dufort with his arms around the smaller human. That was odd. When did Dufort get in the room? Gash racked his brain for a few moments and decided to shrug it off.

He slowly peeled the covers off his body and stretched as far as he could. Gash then lightly tiptoed across the room as to not wake any of the three other people. He opened the door slowly, then dashed out of the room and practically flew down the flight of stairs and into the kitchen.

"Okay…" He mumbled to himself and climbed on the counter to reach a cabinet that was too high for him if he was simply standing with his own height on the floor. His stubby little fingers barely managed to reach the doors, but he managed to open them anyway. He stood on his toes, giving him a little more height as he tried to reach for one of the thick books in the cabinet. Gash groaned as he tried reaching just a little bit farther before the book he was trying to grab suddenly fell out and knocked him off his feet and sent him crashing to the floor.

Gash was dazed for a bit, but then he shook his head and tried to shrug off the pain. He couldn't ignore the sharp throbbing pain on the back of his head, but he hoped that no one had heard him and woken up. The demon lay there quietly for a few minutes, straining his ears for any type of noise, but he didn't hear anything. He deemed it safe and slowly sat back up, opening the book and reading its contents with a smile on his face. The smile slowly faded as he read more and more words.

"Uwooh…I can't read this book at all…every single word is too complicated for me. I can't read kanji!" He groaned and shut the book, leaning back on a bottom cabinet as he thought of what to do now. "Maybe I can just make something random myself…" He decided to just wing it and stood up before running towards the refrigerator and opening the door.

Gash grabbed four eggs and the entire container of milk before setting them all on the floor and reaching back into the refrigerator to look for more stuff. He grabbed the entire packet of cheese, bacon, and managed to pull out the orange juice container and closing the door with his back, arms full. The demon ran to the counter and placed everything he carried onto it before running back to the front of the refrigerator and picking up the eggs and milk. He ran back to the counter he placed the other ingredients and set them there.

"I don't know how to cook…but it can't be that bad!" He grabbed a frying pan from the lowest cabinet and set it on the stove. Gash dragged a nearby stool so that he didn't have to stand on his tiptoes the entire time he was cooking. He cracked each of the four eggs open and spilled the contents onto the frying pan after heating up the stove. The demon made sure that no pieces of egg shell had fallen into the pan, and he threw the empty shells into the sink.

He looked around for a spatula and grabbed the nearest one in order to help flip the eggs. The demon also grabbed nearby spices and threw them randomly into the frying pan until it started to look colorful. Gash smiled. Colorful was good, right? He flipped the eggs when needed(and almost made them fall onto the floor…) while adding milk and cheese and pretty soon they were cooked. The demon placed the four eggs onto four different plates, one for each person.

Gash then grabbed the pack of bacon and counted out eight, two for each person, before setting them in the microwave. He wasn't sure how long he was supposed to cook the microwavable bacon, but he decided to keep it in there for three minutes.

While the bacon was cooking in the microwave, Gash reached for three glass cups, and very carefully, he poured the orange juice into each cup, making sure everyone received an equal amount. He sighed in relief once he finished, and he hadn't spilled a drop. He was doing good today. The beeping of the microwave caught his attention, and he ran back to it to retrieve the bacon. They seemed to be good, if not a little overcooked.

The bacon stung his hand when he tried to pick each piece up, but he managed to fling two strips at every plate. He grabbed a plate and a cup and started heading for the dining table, and he went back to get the other three. Pretty soon, he was done, and a satisfactory smile crossed his lips.

The demon ran back upstairs and banged open the door to Kiyomaro's room. "Breakfast is ready!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, and he started everyone awake, Kiyomaro even falling off the bed. Before they could shout at him(well, Kiyomaro, anyway), Gash had ran out of the room and back downstairs. The three remaining people shared a confused look before they decided to follow Gash into the dining room.

"Wow Gash, did you make all this? It looks delicious!" Zeon practically drooled at the sight of all the food laid out for him, and hopped on a random seat.

"Unuu! I spent all morning making everything, so I hope you like it!" He pushed the two humans to their seats, and hopped on his own. "Itadakimasu~!"

"Uwooh! This is delicious, Gash!" Zeon exclaimed happily, scarfing down everything in front of him.

"It's good, I admit." Kiyomaro shrugged before taking a bite of the egg on his plate. "…Wait. Did you put cinnamon on the egg?"

"I don't know. I can't read any of the labels, so I just added them until the egg started to look pretty!"

"Uwahh!" Kiyomaro and Zeon jumped from the table while knocking their chairs over. Dufort looked unaffected and continued eating his food in silence.

Both Kiyomaro and Zeon noted silently in their minds to never let Gash cook again, for they didn't know what the little demon could have put in their food.


	22. Crumble

**A/N: Ehehe…nothing much to talk about today other than the fact that I didn't have much time to type this up. I was busy all day...(-cough-and yes, I was _totally_ doing something productive. ...Definitely.-cough-)**

**Prompt: Crumble  
Words(without A/N): 894 (sorry it's so short…I'll try to make tomorrow's one longer.)  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"…It doesn't fit."

"Of course it doesn't, the opening is way too small!"

"Why the hell would you give it to me and put it in if it doesn't fit at all?"

"I don't know, maybe I'd like to see you smash it."

"But then it'd spill all over me." The other person snorted.

"Like I'd care. Just…jam it in or something."

"No! That'd be a waste of such a perfectly good-"

"Do you want me to do it for you?"

"Hell no!"

Gash raised his eyebrow as he heard shouts coming from the kitchen. He could immediately tell that the two people who were currently arguing in there were his own twin brother and his human partner. What the demon didn't know is what they were talking about. He peeked around the corner and saw the teenager leaning against the counter holding two things in each hand, and Zeon was standing next to him on a stool, looking very impatient with the human.

"…You didn't poison it, did you?"

Zeon snorted. "Tch, no. If I wanted to kill you, I'll find a better way other than poisoning your food. Maybe I'll make you explode or something." Kiyomaro groaned.

"I thought we already covered the topic of spontaneous human combustion?"

"No, no that long named thing that makes you weak humans explode! I mean like…shoving dynamite down your throat or whatever. Then you'd explode when fireworks burst open inside of you! Ahaha!" Zeon laughed evilly, falling off his stool and holding his stomach. Kiyomaro looked clearly unamused, and he kicked the demon on the floor just for the fun of it. The silver haired demon stopped laughing and looked up to glare at him.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You were annoying me, that's what." Kiyomaro shot back and turned back to the task in his two hands. "So…how am I going to put this in?"

"I told you to just jam it in!"

"But that'd make a mess!" The teenager complained as he set both items down on the counter and turned to look at Zeon.

"You think I care? That's your problem, now isn't it?"

"Can't I just eat it without dunking it?"

"No! That's the whole purpose of the snack I gave you! They say that you absolutely need to dunk it in order for it to taste the best it can be!"

"Who said that?"

"I did! Now shove the damn thing in the cup!"

"No!"

"Stop being so stubborn about things! Let me dunk it, and then I'll eat it!"

"No! You gave it to me, therefore it's mine, and-hey! Don't push me aside like I'm nothing!"

"Well, you _are _nothing, so that makes it okay." Zeon growled at the teenager who he shoved to the floor with a fierce look in his eyes.

Gash, meanwhile, had peeked more around the corner to see what the whole argument was about. Right when he was about to see what Kiyomaro had placed on the counter, Zeon had snatched it up and held it in front of Kiyomaro's face, allowing the blonde demon to see what they were shouting at each other about.

"A…cookie?" The demon asked, confused. The whole argument was about a stupid _cookie?_

"Gash?" Zeon had snapped his head up to look at his twin brother. Gash gasped a little and covered his mouth as soon as he noticed he was spotted; apparently he spoke too loud. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

"Aren't you?" Gash asked back, but without any hint of malice in his voice. He just seemed confused, is all.

"Erm…no? I woke up early."

Gash looked at the time on the microwave hanging from the wall. "…At two in the morning?"

It was times like these when Zeon hated Gash's random bursts of actual intelligence. It wasn't that Gash was usually stupid, or anything, it was just that he seemed to think everything was a game and didn't seemed to think things through.

"Um…_yes_."

"Oh, okay!" Gash smiled. "Be sure to go back to bed, Zeon and Kiyomaro!" The demon happily spun on his heel and skipped back upstairs to go back to bed.

"…Whatever. Here. Just eat the damn thing yourself." Zeon shoved the milk and cookie into Kiyomaro's arms(which the teenager barely caught) and marched off back to his bedroom to go back to bed. The teenager sighed and got up, but instead of going back to his room, he went in the living room instead and sat on the couch.

"…Oh, hey. I know how I can do this now." Kiyomaro broke a small piece of the cookie off and dipped it lightly in the milk, allowing the snack to soak up the liquid. After a few seconds, he brought the piece of cookie back up and placed it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "I guess it does taste a little better with milk."

He continued to eat in silence until a deep voice scared him and made him jump off the couch in fear. "Can I eat that with you?" Kiyomaro clutched his chest, breathing quickly, and looked up to see who(or what) it was that startled him so early in the morning. His shocked face quickly turned into an annoyed one when he found out who it was, however.

"What the hell, Dufort!"


	23. Range

**A/N: I am SO excited! I'd tell you why, but I doubt you'd really care, so I'll just get to the prompt~!**

**Prompt: Range**  
**Words(without A/N): 1,024**  
**Rating: T**  
**Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.**  
**Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"I'm going to make you take this survey I made up just now. How much do you love Dufort?"

Kiyomaro choked on the bread he just swallowed. He looked up at the silver haired demon in disbelief. "W-what?"

"I'll ask you this again; how much do you love Dufort?" The teenager felt the tips of his ears slowly turn red, and he turned his head away, not wanting to look at the impatient looking demon stomping his foot on the ground, an annoyed look featured on his face. "Answer me."

"And…why would you want to know that?"

"Because Gash thinks that he fell in love with that horrid woman Tio, and so I'm asking you how much you love Dufort in order to tell that to Gash to compare his love for Tio with your love for Dufort." Kiyomaro was clearly confused. "It's because Gash fell in love with Tio and I want to prove that his love isn't real, okay?"

"Oh. I got it. But why are you asking me? You'd get a better response out of Dufort."

"Because I'm scared of what Dufort's going to tell me. Knowing my human book reader, he'll probably spill out all of his fantasies about you to me, and frankly, even though that maid incident was hilarious and angered me in the end when I remembered that I forgot to bring a camera and take pictures, it's kind of disturbing. Heck, I don't know if Dufort likes you personally or you just for your body. So answer the-"

"Wait. Why would he like me just for my body?"

"…You are very feminine, Kiyomaro."

"I am not! I'm very masculine!"

"…Yeah, it doesn't sound right coming out of your mouth."

"I hate you. I really do."

"I know that, and I hate you, too. I really do. Oh, and another fact that'll bring me even closer to my point that you are indeed feminine; if your voice wasn't so deep, I probably wouldn't think that you hit puberty yet."

"That's it! No more internet for you, and-wait, what? What the hell does me hitting puberty have to do with anything?"

"Because-you know what? Never mind. I'm not even going to go there. Now are you going to answer my question or not?"

"Hell no!"

"Then I guess I'll just have to tell Dufort that you're ready for him. Hey, Dufort!" Zeon called out, spinning on his heel and heading to the door. Kiyomaro paled and quickly lashed out to grab the demon's ankle, causing Zeon to stop in his tracks. He turned his head back around and looked at the human on the floor, amusement clearly written all over his face. "So are you going to answer my question?"

"…" Kiyomaro pondered over this a few minutes. Zeon was impatient, but he did his best to not shout at the teenager. Finally, right when the silver haired demon thought he was going to go crazy from the silence, Kiyomaro let out a deep breath he had been holding. "…Fine. I'll answer your question."

"Great. Now let go of my foot." Zeon kicked his foot at the teenager's face and Kiyomaro yelped, letting go immediately and backing up into the wall, clutching his nose. He looked annoyed.

"What the hell was that for?"

"I just felt like it. So tell me, how much do you love Dufort?" Kiyomaro sighed.

"I…love him…very much. I guess."

"Uhuh." Zeon wrote something on the clipboard he had been holding with him the entire time before looking back up at the teenager. "But whenever Dufort tries to make a move on you, you always reject him. Why is that?"

"Because I'm not freaking ready for it, that's why!" Kiyomaro shouted, but then grabbed a hold of himself and calmed down. "It's always my humiliation with that guy. He doesn't care where we are, he always tries bringing his hand up my shirt and continues and it's annoying! Heck, I'm still a minor." He added on quickly.

"Minor? What's that? Tell me." Zeon raised an eyebrow and stopped scribbling on the clipboard. Kiyomaro looked shock.

"Jeez, all that time on the internet and you don't even know what-never mind. I'm not even going to bother explaining. The word is simply what it means."

"What? Oh, you mean like that spontaneous human combustion thing?"

"Not that again!"

"Spontaneous means sudden, human is what you are, and combustion means explosion, right? So it makes sense! Spontaneous human combustion means 'sudden human explosion'! Hahaha! I am so smart." Zeon snickered to himself before setting the clipboard down and running out of the room. "Hey, Gash! Guess what I just figured out!" Kiyomaro slammed his forehead on the wall.

"I hate that demon. I hate him so much." He got up when he noticed the clipboard laying on his desk. Interested, the teenager picked it up and started to read it. Not a second later, his calm face was replaced by an annoyed one. "What the hell? These are just random scribbles! Zeon, you can't write!"

"I can teach him how to write." Dufort said suddenly, coming out of nowhere. Kiyomaro screamed and fell onto the bed.

"What? Stop doing that! You're going to kill me someday!" The teenager shouted and glared at the man standing in front of him. Dufort's face didn't change at all in the slightest.

"I can teach him how to write," Dufort repeated slowly. He slowly started to close the gap between the two. Kiyomaro's eyes widened. Oh, not this again. "However, I'll be needing payment, and what I had in mind was-"

"Hell no!" Kiyomaro's hand connected with Dufort's face in a flash, the sound of the slap echoing throughout the teenager's room. Dufort didn't flinch or anything; it was as if he didn't feel it at all. In fact, the slap may as well have never happened if it weren't for the bright red hand mark on the man's face.

"…Please?"

"No!" Kiyomaro shoved the older male off him and stomped out of the room, blushing furiously. Meanwhile, Dufort stayed in the teenager's room, now holding his bruised cheek.

"…That hurt."

**OoO**

**A/N: I like writing out scenarios where Zeon and Kiyomaro fight. (: And it may seem that this oneshot had nothing to do with the prompt, but that's actually not true. If you can figure it out, then…I shall give you a plush!Zeon. …The plush!Kiyomaro is mine. xDD**


	24. Fight or Flight

**A/N: I wasn't really sure what to do with this prompt, so…another short chapter. -.-;;**

**Prompt: Fight/Flight  
Words(without A/N): 874  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

The first time a bully circle was headed for him, Kiyomaro wasn't exactly sure what he should do.

Should he run? No, they'd send the fastest ones of their group to catch him. Should he try to attack? No, that wouldn't do good either. His body wasn't meant for any sort of physical combat. For the first time in a long while, Kiyomaro was confused. There was no way out.

In the end, he ended up hanging upside down on a flag pole, held up by a sturdy rope wrapped tightly around his ankle. The boy didn't exactly know how the bullies had managed to get him up here in the first place; he had been knocked unconscious quite a while ago. He could have tried to reach upwards and untied the rope himself, but then he would fall suddenly and get a series injury; especially since he was dangling quite high off the ground.

A little girl about the same age as him rounded a corner, and spotted him. She gasped(or did she? Kiyomaro couldn't really tell from so far away.), and immediately ran to help him. Kiyomaro didn't feel hope swell up inside of him or anything of the sort; there was no way he could get down without someone being hurt. Adults passed by, but they either didn't notice him or purposely ignored him. What was wrong with the adults of this town?

He felt a light tugging at his ankle and saw the short haired girl from earlier trying to untie the knot while also holding on to the metal pole for dear life. The knot eventually loosened up, and Kiyomaro's foot slipped through. Well, he was free. That was good. But he'd rather be hanging upside down than falling straight for the jagged concrete ground that would surely kill him.

But that didn't happen. Instead, something else grabbed his ankle rather quickly, and when the boy looked up, he saw the girl holding tightly on to it while she was slowly lowering him and herself back to the ground safely. The two touched the ground lightly, and the girl finally let go of his ankle. Kiyomaro sat down cross legged and began to rub the sore area.

"My name is Suzume…erm, Mizuno. Mizuno Suzume. What's your name?" The girl finally spoke to him and held her hand out in order to help him up. Kiyomaro stared at the outstretched hand before lightly taking it with his own, and he was pulled up.

"Takamine Kiyomaro." Kiyomaro introduced himself slightly, feeling a little bored. He didn't get why the girl was introducing herself and asking for his name in return; it wasn't as if they were going to meet again in the near future.

"Kiyomaro? Um, er….Is it okay if I can just call you Takamine-kun?"

"I don't see why not." The boy said nonchalantly. He saw his school bag right in front of a nearby fence, and he walked over to retrieve it before turning back to the girl named Suzume. "Thanks for getting me down from there."

"Uh…oh! It's no problem, not at all!" Suzume's face was red for some reason; Kiyomaro didn't know why. The girl was in hysterics as she stuttered and waved her arms around wildly in an exaggerated way. She would have probably exploded if Kiyomaro hadn't interrupted her and spoke himself.

"You're going to be late for school." He started walking in the opposite direction from Suzume, and the girl looked confused.

"Huh? Aren't you coming, too?"

"No."

There was silence as the boy continued walking, and pretty soon he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Suzume smiling sheepishly.

"Then I'll go with you, too."

They had been the best of friends for the next couple of years. They rescued each other from bully circles and also got beat together within those. Suzume may have a had a crush on Kiyomaro after all that time, but Kiyomaro really couldn't bring himself to return the girl's feelings. It wasn't as if he didn't like her, he found comfort in here, actually, it was just that he didn't feel for her the same way she did for him.

Then one day they met Dufort, the older boy who had decided to move into his house without even asking for permission.

Along with Dufort came the two demons Gash and Zeon. Those two demons always stirred up trouble for Kiyomaro, but he couldn't kick them out. Well, he could, but Zeon would probably find and beat him up later.

A few years later came Alishie. It was then that Kiyomaro noticed that Suzume stopped paying so much attention to him and started developing a crush on the newcomer. Well, at least that got her off his back.

He liked Dufort, he really did. It was just that he hated the man's perverted ways. He hated them very much.

"So next time I see you being chased by a bully circle, I'll come save you."

"Uh-huh. And how is this different than any other time?"

"I'll require payment."

"Payment? I'm broke, Dufort."

"No, I was thinking of something else."

"What were you thinking of?"

"…If we go on the bed, I can show you-"

"Hell no!"


	25. Acid

**A/N: GAHH. I'VE BEEN SO BUSY TODAY. Dx**

**Prompt: Acid**  
**Words(without A/N): 1,257**  
**Rating: T**  
**Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.**  
**Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

The rain smelled, tasted, and felt like acid.

The city was polluted, very much so. And nobody, not even its residents, bothered to clean it up.

Suzume tried to start a group based on helping to clean up the city, but it failed within hours. No one wanted to help; why should they when they didn't care about the environment they lived in as long as they were fine with it?

Kiyomaro decided to humor her by picking up trash and junk off the streets when Suzume was around; but she never responded, still too down by her recent failure at creating an environment-helping group. He decided to abandon his small quest in the end, and nothing ever got done.

Zeon liked the rain, but Gash didn't. The demon always pulled his twin brother back, saying it wasn't good for him and that he will get sick if he stays out in the rain even for a short while. So the silver haired demon resorted to running out in the rain whenever the blonde haired demon was asleep or not there at the moment. Sometimes Zeon left Gash alone (only for a very short while, though) and left to do anything he wanted or felt like doing at the moment.

When Zeon caught a cold, Gash had instantly figured out what he was doing and scolded his twin brother. The silver haired demon ignored him and tried to keep his distance whenever Gash tried to get near him so that his cold wouldn't spread. However, he did enjoy trying to catch Kiyomaro and chasing the nimble teenager throughout the house. That was always fun. Until Gash found him and shooed him back to his room.

Dufort didn't mind if Kiyomaro stayed out in the rain. In fact, the man actually encouraged it. A little too much. And, like most things the man did, it got on Kiyomaro's nerves.

One little push was all it took to get the frail teenager sniffling and huddled under a pile of blankets the next day with a thermometer sticking out of his mouth.

"How the hell did we even get a thermometer, anyway?" Kiyomaro shouted, then paused to sneeze.

Zeon started whistling and looked away. The teenager instantly turned to him, clearly unamused. The silver haired demon looked back at him and smirked. Kiyomaro narrowed his eyes, but didn't do anything. This pleased Zeon even more, knowing that the 'weak' human couldn't do anything to him.

Kiyomaro then growled and turned back to Dufort, who had just walked back in the room, newly made soup hot in his hands. "And you! Why the hell did you have to push me out from under the umbrella, anyway? This is all your fault, do you know that?" He sneezed again.

"It was so I could take care of you." Dufort said bluntly. "Even more so than usual. You two," he turned to the two demons. Zeon was snickering evilly and Gash was looking worried for his human partner. "Leave. Now."

Gash paled and ran out of the room the second he knew Dufort was serious. Zeon, not wanting to be left alone with the humans and wanting to make sure his beloved brother didn't do anything stupid, ran out after him. Dufort placed the soup bowl on the nightstand next to the sick Kiyomaro and turned to the teenager.

"How are you feeling?" Kiyomaro looked at him, a confused yet annoyed look featured on his face.

"What the hell? How do you _think_ I'm feeling? Do you want me to throw that soup at you? I will, you know. I'll totally do it. Just say one more thing to get me angry and I'll-" another sneeze cut him off. Dufort smirked, but only a little. Kiyomaro noticed, however. "You're laughing at me inside because of my misery, aren't you." It wasn't a statement. It was a fact.

"Yes." Was the very blunt answer. "And if you do throw the scalding hot soup at me, I'm going to make you clean it off."

"…How?"

"I don't care. Either through the use of a shower or on the bed. But you can't use any cloth to help you."

"What the hell? Pervert!" Kiyomaro screamed and was grabbed the soup bowl, ready to fling it at the older male but then stopped himself. Dufort was a man of his word. And he'd _force _Kiyomaro to follow his perverted fantasies, no matter how much the teenager didn't want to do it. So he quickly decided that just allowing the man to take care of him was better.

"Open your mouth." Dufort commanded suddenly, grabbing the bowl and dipping the spoon inside of it.

"No!" Kiyomaro shouted and grabbed the bowl himself. The soup splashed out and spilled all over him, causing the teenager to shriek in surprise yet with a bit of pain mixed with it. He quickly grabbed the blankets he discarded earlier when his body warmed up too much for his liking and immediately started dabbing the wet area. Dufort meanwhile stared at him the whole time, clearly amused.

"Oh, look. Now I get to clean you instead." Dufort picked the teenager up and only held him tighter when he started to struggle. Kiyomaro sighed and gave up, the burns on his stomach and face only a throbbing pain now.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you." Once again with the facts. Dufort didn't answer. Not a verbally spoken reply, nor even with a simple shrug of his shoulders. Kiyomaro lay there in his arms wide-eyed. So he _didn't _know this would happen? Weird. Wait, so that meant that he had just chosen his own demise. Oh, that was just great. "You aren't taking me to the shower, are you?"

"What? No. Why would I bring you to the shower when we're already outside?"

"Huh?"

Kiyomaro looked up and just now noticed the sound of the rain slapping harshly against the pavement. It had been raining for about a week straight now; it was turning into a flood. The water must've completely soaked the bottom of Dufort's shoes, yet the man didn't seem to mind. The large puddles on the pavement looked completely black; maybe it was just the rain's actual color? The rain in their city _was _the equivalent to acid, after all.

"Why did you take me outside?"

"For this."

Dufort set the short teenager down and before Kiyomaro could say anything, the man had him wrapped tightly in a hug and was currently pressing his lips harshly to his own. Kiyomaro didn't say anything; he just stared wide-eyed. The rain was the reason he was sick in the first place after Dufort pushed him out from under that umbrella the other day. Did Dufort want to get sick as well?

The kiss was broken when Dufort slowly pulled away and stared at Kiyomaro's face. Kiyomaro blinked, confused. What was that all about? The arms around his waist brought him closer to the man and the teenager stood, his face buried in Dufort's neck. It was warm, and…comfortable. And now they were both completely drenched because of the rain.

"What was that for?" He couldn't help but ask.

"I just felt like it." Dufort shrugged.

"Idiot." Kiyomaro lightly punched his shoulder as best as he could from his current position. "You're going to get sick now, you know."

"And I'll have you to take care of me, won't I?"

"I'm still sick."

"Oh. Then that means we can be in bed together."

"Dufort!"


	26. Color

**A/N: Not much I could do with this prompt. e.o**

**Prompt: Color  
Words(without A/N): 882  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga universe.**

**OoO**

Kiyomaro had brought color to the otherwise dull, black and white world of Dufort.

Sure, Zeon was there to spice it up before he met the young male, but even with the silver haired demon's sassy remarks and witty comebacks, they tended to get old after a while. Not to mention annoying. But Kiyomaro's company soothed him somewhat, even if the teenager had a bit of a short temper and disagreed with almost everything he said.

"No, you may not watch me change clothes!"

"Dufort, take Gash and Zeon to the park! They're bothering me so much this early in the morning and I have to get to school! I'd rather not be late today again, thank you."

"What the hell? Pervert!" Whack. "I can't believe I almost took a shower without noticing you were watching me. Get out!"

"No, no, and no. You may not do those kind of perverted things in front of Gash and Zeon, you may not do those kind of things when they're not around and we're in public, and you may _not _do those kind of things when we're alone, either!"

Yes, the teenager did disappoint the man many, many times. Each time he came up with a vulgar proposal, the younger male rushed towards him and slapped him across the face or anywhere else he could straight away. Dufort did mean it, though. Every single idea he thought of he meant to do. And Dufort wasn't the type of person who didn't get what he wanted.

Oh, yes. He'd get them _one _day or another. He'd make them come true. And he'd be patiently waiting for that day.

"So, I was wondering if we could-"

"No."

"Deny me any more than this one last time and I just may end up doing something we'd both regret." He hinted. Maybe this threat would scare him into submission…?

"No." Damn it. It didn't work. "If you did, I'd break up with you."

"So? That won't change the fact that it happened." He took a step closer. Kiyomaro took a step back.

"No. Stay away from me!" Slap. Dufort flinched a little. That one actually kind of hurt. He looked up from the place the teenager slapped him at and looked at Kiyomaro's face instead. The shorter male looked serious about this, so he decided to change the subject.

"Fine. Don't be so touchy."

Kiyomaro continued walking ahead in silence, and Dufort quickly followed him. The man noticed every single little thing the younger male did; how the tips of his ears were slowly turning red, how he crossed his arms and held himself as if fighting off the cold weather. It wasn't really that cold outside, but he didn't question it. But what disturbed him was the fact that Kiyomaro didn't start up another conversation. Usually they'd be talking about a completely different matter by now.

"…Are you all right? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Kiyomaro stopped walking, and Dufort nearly crashed into him. The teenager slowly turned around, and for a second, the man thought that Kiyomaro was angry at him or even hurt by the expression on his face. He chalked it off as something his mind made up when Kiyomaro's face looked confused not even a second later.

"No. What are you talking about? I'm fine."

"Then why aren't you talking to me?"

"I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?" Dufort didn't respond. The breeze blew by, and Kiyomaro shivered. The man took a step forward to wrap his hands around the younger male, but Kiyomaro stepped back, away from him before he could. This confused him even more.

"What's-"

"We should get going home now. It's getting late. Gash and Zeon might be getting worried about us."

Dufort was about to speak up and say that Zeon wouldn't be worried for them at all, but then he stopped himself when he realized that Kiyomaro was already walking far away. He started walking at a quicker pace in order to catch up.

They didn't speak again for the rest of the way back to their house. Dufort worried just a little that Kiyomaro may be acting like this for the rest of…for the rest of forever, anyway. He may have broken the little teenager.

Before he knew it, they were in front of the door to the house. Had they really walked there that quickly? Well, Kiyomaro _was _walking in a quicker pace than usual…

"Zeon!" Kiyomaro screamed suddenly when a bucket of cold water fell from the sky and landed on his head. Well, it wasn't from the sky, actually. It was from the top of the front door that Kiyomaro had just done it. And not a second later, laughter rang throughout the house belonging to a certain silver haired demon.

"You really should've expected that, Kiyomaro!" Zeon laughed.

"Gehh…Hey, Dufort. He's your demon. Do something about him while I get dry!" Kiyomaro ordered as he started wringing out his soaked clothes.

Dufort blinked. Well, Kiyomaro changed attitudes in one second. That was a new record. But at least now the teenager was acting normal to him again.

He'd really have to thank Zeon for it later, even if the demon had no idea why his bookkeeper was thanking him.


	27. Gift

**A/N: My hand hurts. And this is why:**

**http : / / rylitah . deviantart . com /art/ Vocaloid-Lily-SPiCa-175913527?q=sort%3Atime+gallery%3Arylitah&qo=0**

**(remove spaces)**

**I worked so hard on that. Dx I hope you like it! ^^;;**

**Prompt: Gift  
Words(without A/N): 1,008  
Rating: K  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

"Here."

The short teenager shakily thrust his hands out in front of him, holding a small box. Dufort looked down, eyebrow raised. Why was Kiyomaro giving him this? As if he read his mind, the teenager started to nervously answer.

"A-ah…I just thought that i-it would be a g-good p-present."

"For what?"

"F-for…s-saving me all of those times. Y'know, f-from the bully c-circles. T-take it." Kiyomaro tried to talk normally, but he was failing miserably at it. Dufort found this cute, and he would have smiled if he were the type of person to smile at anything.

"What's in it?" He decided to ask, just knowing what the teenager's reaction would be. He was right when the younger male's face started turning red instantly.

"It's…nothing special. J-just open it…No, not now…! J-just…when…I-I'm n-not here." He shoved the box in Dufort's hands and started to quickly walk away. The man just stared after the boy, not going to stop him.

Once Kiyomaro was out of sight, Dufort looked down at the box he now held and slowly started undoing the ribbons to it. He allowed the silk fabric to gently fall to the ground. The box then slowly fell open in his hands.

The first thing he noticed was rice. Then pickles. Soon after, he took in the entire 'present' in his mind. It was…a bento box? He wondered exactly why Kiyomaro made him lunch when the teenager had to do it already for everyone else every single day. Wasn't this just like normal? It was then that he noticed minor details about the food.

It looked very carefully made, more so than usual. (Not that Kiyomaro wanted to poison anybody, but Zeon had to be extra cautious of his food whenever the teenager had made it. Who knew what he put in there to off him somehow.) Then he realized that the food just simply looked different, even though he saw the items every single day.

They looked cleaner and more fresh. The rice looked puffy and pure white and everything else had outstanding features about them. They looked…delicious. (Not that Dufort didn't like Kiyomaro's cooking earlier, of course. But this time just seemed more…special.) It was then that it clicked in Dufort's brain. The freshness, the cleanliness, the overall outstanding quality of it all…

Kiyomaro had to have gone outside of the city in order to buy these items.

Though, Dufort wondered, when did the teenager ever have time to do it? The nearest town was an hour away. It took an hour to get there, and an hour to get back. So Kiyomaro had to have gone missing from him for over two hours once someday. He racked his brain to remember anytime at all where he didn't know where the small teenager was, but he couldn't for the life of him remember…which was weird.

Then there were other possibilities. Kiyomaro may have known that Dufort would worry about him if he went missing, so he could have asked somebody else. But who? Suzume? No, she would be too easy to spot on the street. Bullies did not take it lightly whenever anybody left the city for whatever reason. Plus, the girl probably would have been too scared to do so.

Gash couldn't have done it. Zeon was with him all the time, and Dufort couldn't remember a time where he didn't hear the demon's shouting, whether it was directed at a random rock he happened to stub his toe on or whether if it was in one of his daily arguments with Kiyomaro. Zeon and Gash were simply too loud to have gone anywhere, and they'd be easy pickings for the bullies. (Well, Gash was. But even Zeon could not handle the sheer force of a bully circle. One was just fine.)

So the last person would have to be…Alishie. No one else would do anything for Kiyomaro. Unless he traded himself in as a punching bag or something, but Dufort knew the shorter male would never do that. Alishie could handle himself pretty well. Dufort didn't even know where the teenager was half the time, so Alishie would be the perfect person for Kiyomaro to ask for help from.

Alishie wasn't superman. Sure, he could fight off more than one bully, but after about three, he couldn't fend them off anymore. But most bully circles consisted of only three bullies, anyway. Dufort hated to admit it, but the teenager was strong.

The next question would be when Alishie had the time to give the food to Kiyomaro without Dufort's noticing. Maybe it was at night? No, Kiyomaro would rather die than walk around in the middle of the night by his own free will. It couldn't have been. But in the afternoon, he stuck to the teenager like glue, so there was no time at all.

Then he remembered that one time where Kiyomaro ran off in what seemed to be a random direction and left him behind. Dufort had to run to catch up to the teenager minutes later, and when he asked why Kiyomaro ran off like that, he wouldn't answer. The rest of the way was an uneasy walk back to his house. Of course, right before, he had made another perverted suggestion of his, and then right after Kiyomaro started acting strange. But then Kiyomaro acted normally as soon as they got home.

And now he knew why. Looking back down at the bento, his stomach growled. He had grown rather used to the taste of the horrid city food. This was nice change. He couldn't get used to it, though, and so he had to savor it.

Then another question popped into his mind before he took the first bite of rice.

Where had Kiyomaro gotten the money to give to Alishie to buy this delicious food?

He groaned, and shook his head to get his mind out of the question. Dufort decided that he would ask Kiyomaro about the money question later.

Right after he finished his meal.

**OoO**

**A/N: Tomorrow's prompt is going to be the prompt that inspired me to do this entire list. Seriously. I CAN NOT WAIT.**


	28. Needle

**A/N: I've been waiting to write this prompt since day one. I really wish I could have made it longer, but…I have a LOT of things to do tonight.**

**But while writing this, I was talking to these two AMAZING people called Sora and Fear. And OHGODTHEYAREHILARIOUS. I was too focused on my conversation with them(which was about Fear writing a sex story between her two characters, and I said that I like Keiichi(from Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni), and Fear said that she likes sex scenes, which caused me to think of BOTH Keiichi and sex scenes and…yeah. That distracted me.)**

**Prompt: Needle  
Words(without A/N): 668  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

"No! No! No! You can not make me go in there! I'd rather die than let them do that horrid thing to me!"

"You…are…going to go…in that room…and hold still or I will knock you out! Dufort, help me!"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Pulling my leg to get me to let go of Kiyomaro! I'm not going to let go of him until he gets that damn shot!"

"Why do you care about me so much?"

"I don't! I just find it amusing for you to scream in pain and terror when that needle penetrates your skin and injects its liquid substance inside of your blood stream!"

"You aren't helping things at all!"

"Good! I like seeing you squirm in pain!"

"Leave me alone! I'm not going to get that damn shot, and if I have to go, I'm bringing you all with me!"

"We don't need shots!"

"Shut up, Gash! I'm not going to get that damn shot and that's final! Now let go of me!"

"I'm going to get that shot and do it to you myself!"

"You'd have to kill me before you inject me with that!"

"I can arrange that!"

Kiyomaro clung ever tighter to the edge of the wall, absolutely refusing to let go and be dragged down to the hospital. Usually he'd be smart in a situation like this and just go down there to get it over with sooner, but his brain was on 'survive' mode and it wouldn't take any other result for an answer.

…To say that the short teenager was afraid of needles was a huge understatement.

"But Kiyomaro has to go get his shots or else he'll get sick, right? That's what Dufort told me!"

"Dufort can take care of me if I get sick." Kiyomaro groaned.

"I'll do that gladly."

Kiyomaro kicked his leg to the best of his ability. Zeon screamed.

"What the hell? You could've hit me!"

"Too bad I didn't." The teenager grumbled. Zeon smacked him.

"I heard that! Now go out and get your damn shots! Why the hell are you this strong when you have to get something you don't want?"

"Because I'm going to die if I get those!"

"No, you aren't." Dufort reassured. "If you do, I'll kill the doctor who gave them to you and burn down the hospital and mourn over your grave every second of the day, every day of the week."

"You aren't helping!" Kiyomaro wailed. Zeon groaned and gave one last pull, and Kiyomaro's fingers were ripped away from the wall and the teenager crashed into the smaller demon. Zeon didn't seem fazed one bit.

"Dufort! Restrain him before he gets away!" Not a second later Kiyomaro was running down the hall and out of the house before anyone could catch him.

"Unuu…Kiyomaro really doesn't want to get a shot." Gash said, staring at the cloud dust the teenager left behind. Dufort calmly walked after Kiyomaro, sure that his trap would be activating in about three…two…one…

"What the hell?" There it was.

The man and the two small twin demons walked out of the front door and saw the runaway teenager hanging upside down and twisted in a series of ropes with a net dropped over him. Dufort nearly grinned at the perverted fantasies that entered his mind at the sight, but quickly shook them off as he dragged his lover to the hospital.

"I hate you. I hate you so much."

"I love you, too."

Needless to say, Kiyomaro was very unhappy when they made it to the hospital and nearly tore down the entire building trying to escape from his net. He was caught when Dufort had quickly set up another one of his traps, and he had to hold the teenager down when he received the shot.

As they walked out of the hospital, Kiyomaro was rubbing his bandaged arm while Zeon was smirking triumphantly.

"I hope you got what you wanted." Kiyomaro growled to the silver haired demon.

"Oh, trust me, I got enough of what I wanted to satisfy me for _days_."


	29. Locks

**A/N: I was in a drabble mood today, so…yeah. This one is really short. xDD I'll try to make tomorrow's prompt over 1,000 words again. : D  
**

**Prompt: Locks  
Words(without A/N): 421  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe**

**OoO**

Dufort often wondered what Kiyomaro would look like with long blonde locks of hair.

Of course, he was way too impatient to force the teenager to grow out his hair to be long, and he didn't want to dye his hair and permanently change it. No, he just wanted a glimpse of it, is all. So one day he went out. He went out and bought a wig to sneak on Kiyomaro's head when the teenager wasn't paying attention.

And buy a wig he did. He lied to the store clerk and said it was for his girlfriend who was going to start her cosplaying hobby and wanted to try on that exact wig to see how she looked with it on. Which was a complete lie. Kiyomaro wasn't interested at all in cosplaying, at least he didn't show it out publicly. Though Dufort wondered what Kiyomaro would look like as an anime character…he shook it off.

The teenager was currently making snacks to the order of Zeon. Of course, Kiyomaro groaned and complained about it at first, but the silver haired demon had his ways of manipulating the poor teenager to do whatever he wanted.

Dufort slowly sneaked up on the teenager as he was cutting something with what seemed to be a very sharp knife. The man stopped and waited for Kiyomaro to stop cutting; he didn't want the boy to accidentally cut off his finger or anything of the sort.

Finally, Kiyomaro stopped cutting whatever it was that he was cutting(was it cucumber? Dufort couldn't really tell.) and placed the knife down. Not a second later, he was blinded when something soft went over his head and his vision instantly turned a dirty blonde color. He whipped around to see what the heck it was that had latched onto his head and he groaned when he saw Dufort. What the hell did the man do to him today?

Dufort took a step back. Kiyomaro looked…odd, with blonde hair. Then again, it didn't look too out of place as Kiyomaro had a very feminine body in the first place, which made things a lot easier. The male teenager could pretty much pass himself off for a girl if he really wanted to.

"What the hell? Did you just put a wig on me?" Kiyomaro yanked the wig off and glared at the man. Dufort's expression didn't change in the slightest as he wrapped the teenager in a tight hug.

"Yeah. But I like how you look naturally even more."


	30. Slope

**A/N: Thirty chapters in and I'm still updating every day…This has to be a record. xDD**

**And note that this chapter takes place in winter.  
**

**Prompt: Slope  
Words(without A/N): 1,148  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.  
**

**OoO**

"Kiyomaro and I are going to go sledding on that big hill near the park. No, you may not come. No, you may not sneak in your sports bags and follow us there. No, you may not leave the house at all. No, you may not try to find a way around all of my rules. Suzume will be your baby sitter. No, you may not pull pranks on her, Zeon. No, you may not beg her to go fishing for yellowtail with you, Gash. No, you may not give her a hard time, both of you. Got that?"

"Unuu…what? I lost track at the 'no, we may not sneak in our sports bags and follow you there' rule…which one was that? Was that the second or the third rule?" Gash tried counting on his small stubby fingers how many rules there were that he had to follow, and he seemed intent on following them all perfectly.

"Who cares? We're going to break all of them, anyway." Zeon scoffed, and then smirked when he saw Kiyomaro glare at him from behind Dufort. "And that isn't fair. How come you two get to go sledding at that huge hill near the park and have fun while we get boring old Suzume as a baby sitter? The most fun we're going to have is watching her draw those creepy faces on those fruits she always carries around with her, and I'd rather treat Kiyomaro like a princess then do that." Kiyomaro narrowed his eyes.

"Why princess?"

"Because if you're with Dufort, and you're both male, then someone has to be the dominant one while the other is the submissive one, like a prince and a princess. Seeing Dufort as a princess would probably scar me for life, so that makes you the submissive one, known as a princess in my world. Plus, if you just grew your hair out a lot longer, you could pass yourself off as a female."

"I don't live in your world!" Kiyomaro shouted at the silver haired demon, who didn't flinch in the slightest. "And why does everybody keep saying that? I don't look feminine at all!"

Gash coughed and looked away. Kiyomaro narrowed his eyes again, this time at the blonde haired demon. The twin looked up at the teenager with his large golden eyes. "What? Zeon taught me a lot of things he knows, and he said if you say anything like what you said just now, then cough on purpose and look away from you, even if I'm not sick at the time."

"Zeon!" Kiyomaro marched forward and was about to attack the smaller demon (and probably result in getting a broken limb or three) but was stopped when Dufort grabbed his shoulder. The teenager then slowly turned his head and glared at the man. "And why do I have to go sledding anyway? I'd rather stay inside. That's more fitting for Gash and Zeon to do, not us."

"Because I said so."

"That, and it gives you a reason to hold me close to yourself, doesn't it." It wasn't a question, and all four people in the room knew it. Kiyomaro had a habit of stating things that were supposed to be questions.

"Yeah." Dufort answered quickly, waving the teenager's annoyance off him fairly easily. He then turned and looked coldly down at the silver and gold twin demons. "So follow all of those rules, and no one will be hurt today."

"Unuu…what were those rules again? I don't remember any of them." Gash admitted, confusion on his face. Kiyomaro groaned and smacked his forehead against the wall while Zeon snickered at the teenager's antics. Dufort didn't say anything. Instead, he just stared down at the blonde haired little demon without any emotion. Gash started to feel nervous under the man's stare. Why was he staring at him like that?

"…Okay. I said, no you may not come. No, you may not sneak in your sports bags and follow us there. No, you may not leave the house at all. No, you may not-"

"Oh, come on! Are you really going to tell all of those rules to Gash? Seriously?" Kiyomaro shouted, then hugged his large jacket closer to himself for warmth as he prepared to go outside. "It isn't getting any colder out there, and I am not going to just stand here since I know you're going to drag me to the large slope anyway."

"Okay, then let's go. Zeon, I know you remember everything I said. Go and tell Gash everything, and I want the both of you to recite it over and over again in the presence of Suzume until we come back. Then I want you to repeat everything you remembered to me. If you leave out one thing, then I will lock you outside for the night. If you remember everything, then you will get the wonderful feeling of having remembered everything and have gotten everything right."

"That's a suckish reward." Zeon scoffed.

"My house, my rules."

"But this is my house." Kiyomaro said suddenly. Dufort turned to look at the smaller male.

"Well, like Zeon said, I'm the dominant one. Therefore all of your belongings belong to me, including your body." He poked the teenager as he said the last word. Kiyomaro reacted to this by hugging his arms even closer around himself and taking a few steps back, clearly annoyed. "Now let's go to the slope." He grabbed Kiyomaro's arm and walked him out of the door to the snowy outside.

"Unuu…we should get practicing on reciting everything he said, Zeon. So what was it Dufort said? I really don't remember." Gash said.

"Eh, that's boring. Let's do something else."

"Like what?"

"…Grab your sports bag. We're going to the slope."

"But Dufort told us not to go to the slope! I remember that thing. He said it pretty clearly."

"Gash, gash, gash." Zeon said repeatedly, shaking his head. "Since when have we ever listened to Kiyomaro?"

"But…but Dufort said that."

"He did? Oh well, shows how much I care. Now grab our sports bags and let's go to the slope. I want to see how long we can spy on them before they catch us. And maybe Dufort will try to molest Kiyomaro again. That'll be an added bonus for me to see the weak human so…weak."

"But Kiyomaro's nice." Gash defended his bookkeeper.

"I still don't like him. Now let's go!" He grabbed their sports bags that were nearby and ran out of the door. Gash quickly covered himself with the bag and ran out after his twin brother. "Found them!" he heard Zeon shout out from somewhere nearby.

"I can't find them. What are they doing?"

"Just like I thought they would be doing. Dufort trying to molest Kiyomaro while Kiyomaro is smacking him over and over. This'll be fun!"


	31. Correspondence

**A/N: This prompt was fun. xDD**

**Prompt: Correspondence  
Words(without A/N): 1,043  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

_Hey Kiyomaro, your shirt is rolling up and I do not want people to see and get the wrong ideas and attempt to jump you when you're alone or something like that. I know that you're with me most of the time, but still, I'd like to be careful. Now sit up and pull your shirt down before I end up having to kill someone._

Dufort put his pencil down and crumpled the paper into a little ball before throwing it at the teenager's head. The paper was very light, and shouldn't have hurt him at all, but Kiyomaro tended to do things dramatically and so the young male instantly slammed his face into his desk the moment he felt something light touch the back of his head and roll down his back. No one seemed to notice or pay attention. Kiyomaro groaned softly and snatched the ball of paper that had placed itself at the bottom of his chair and quickly opened it up. As he continued to read, his eyes narrowed more and more. When he finished, the turned around and prepared to shout an obscenity at the older male before his teacher interrupted him.

"Oh, what's wrong, Kiyomaro? Is my class so boring that even you are resorting to talk to your classmate when I'm seemingly not noticing?" The teacher walked up and slammed his hands down on the teenager's desk, instantly causing the whole class to be alarmed. Kiyomaro didn't flinch; this happened almost everyday. "What were you talking to Dufort about this time?"

"I wasn't talking to Dufort," Kiyomaro said simply. It was true; he didn't even gut the chance to speak the first word at all before the teacher interrupted him. He allowed a small smile to form on his lips. "So you can now go back to teaching the class. I won't be a bother."

"You say that, but your very presence in this here classroom bothers me! You think that just because your little brother-" Kiyomaro twitched at the teacher calling Gash his 'brother'. "-came along, everyone will respect you? Well, I'll end your run of hundreds some day! You'll see!"

"…When did this turn into a conversation about my grades…?" Kiyomaro muttered, but not loud enough for the teacher to hear.

"I, Toyama, shall succeed in my life-long dream!"

"…To stop me from doing well on my tests?"

"Yes!…Wait. Never mind! Just don't bother me again!" Toyama groaned and walked back to the front of the classroom to continue his lecture. Not long later, the entire classroom reverted back to how it was before the little argument; as if it never happened. And Kiyomaro was just fine with that.

Kiyomaro then remembered the reason he got in trouble in the very first place and was instantly annoyed. He couldn't turn around to yell at Dufort with Toyama staring at him during the entire lesson, but then the principal came in and whispered something in the teacher's ear. Toyama groaned and reluctantly left the classroom, but not before shouting at the class, "I better not hear a sound out of any of you or it's detention for the rest of the year!" No one ever really listened to Toyama, but they decided not to talk anyway, just in case.

The teenager who was constantly the target of the teacher's anger groaned before taking out a piece of notebook paper and ripping it along the middle. He grabbed his pencil and quickly began writing;

_Dufort, I don't care what people think of me. I highly doubt they'd attempt to rape me in the middle of nowhere. I am fairly positive that you are the only person in the entire world who thinks of me the same way you do. I will not be the target of any of those things you continue to be worried about! …But thanks for the warning anyway. It'd look pretty weird if my shirt was up the entire time. Which is weird, because I usually tuck it in. But then again, Gash was in one of his 'take me to school with you!' modes and we pretty much had a wrestling match before I stole Vulcan and nearly threw the damn thing out of the window. Then he left me alone, and we were finally able to go to school. So that may have been the problem. But still. Stop worrying about me!_

Satisfied with this remark, Kiyomaro put his pencil down and crumpled it in a small ball just like how Dufort did, and threw the ball over his shoulder. He smirked and put his chin down on the desk. Maybe he could take a quick nap before Toyama came back to yell at him again. Right after he closed his eyes, he felt another ball attack the back of his neck and groaned. It had taken all of what, five seconds, for Dufort to write back? He sat up, took the ball, and quickly opened it to scan the written words inside.

_You ramble a lot. But then, that's just another cute quality about you._

Kiyomaro took the other half of his paper he ripped earlier and quickly began scribbling down his response;

_What the hell? Did you just ignore everything I wrote earlier? It took time to write that, damn it! Read over it again and write an actual response or I'm locking you out of the house!_

He smashed the paper into a ball and threw it over his shoulder again. Two seconds later, another ball had smacked into the back of his head. Kiyomaro grabbed it and opened it.

_You really get angered easily. Then again, it'd be too boring to be with you if you were so passive all the time._

Kiyomaro didn't bother writing a response to this one. Instead, he turned around and narrowed his eyes at Dufort in a glare.

"What the hell, Dufort? Stop changing the subject! You know what, I'm going to lock you out of the house!"

"I'll sneak in through the window and get to you."

"I'll call you a rapist and find the nearest possible thing that could give you a concussion and throw it at your face."

"Better me than anyone else, right?"

Kiyomaro smacked him.


	32. Linger

**A/N: We're halfway through with this story! Thirty two more chapters left until this story is complete!**

…**So…more drabble today for you. xDD**

**And, uh, this prompt may not make any sense. I pretty much had no idea what I was writing when I wrote it. So…don't kill me. D:**

**Also, this prompt pretty quickly turned into a different prompt, as you can tell from the last sentence. 'Trust' is actually a prompt on this list. ...Which I did not know before naming my story. Ehehe...  
**

**Prompt: Linger  
Words(without A/N): 693  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

The first time Dufort kissed Kiyomaro came as a true surprise to the teenager.

It was very sudden, and without any warning at all. The kiss had just…happened. And apparently Dufort had decided right then and there that he liked the feeling of Kiyomaro's lips against his and he kissed the teenager again.

Kiyomaro thought it felt weird, kissing another guy.

But then again, he hadn't kissed even a female before. Not Suzume, not Megumi, not anybody. So the man had stolen his first kiss and if Kiyomaro were a child, he probably would have pounded on the man's chest and shouted over and over again to give his first kiss back. Which would have been very foolish and probably would have encouraged the older male to kiss him again. Which Dufort did.

Nobody was around, not even the twin demons that loved to make his life so miserable. He was simply pulling out a futon for Dufort to sleep in when the man suddenly grabbed him, turned him around and promptly kissed him full on the lips. Even when the man had pulled away, Kiyomaro could've sworn that he could still feel the feeling of the kiss linger on his lips.

"What was that for?" He had asked, no sign of anger or rage in his voice. Just…confused sounding. Dufort had placed his hand to his chin and shrugged.

"I just felt like it."

And that was the end of that conversation.

Of course, Dufort had gotten more bold over the months and had somehow developed his perverted streak somewhere along the way. Kiyomaro didn't even know how he got it, and he thought that it was a thought that was worth not knowing or finding out. Which is why he never asked the man.

A few months and many more kisses later, Kiyomaro was recalling the time when his first kiss was stolen from him. It was as if his lips started to feel tickled as soon as he remembered the event, and his face quickly flushed a deep red. It wasn't something to be so embarrassed about, but he couldn't help but feel shy about it anyway.

And there were times that he was certain that he could feel the kiss linger on his lips. It just…happens at the most random moments, and he didn't know why. Sometimes his lips would tickle and feel fuzzy and Kiyomaro would blame his mind for remembering the event that had occurred so many months ago. Then he would blame Dufort. It was the man's fault anyway, kissing him so suddenly like that. It was after that first kiss that Kiyomaro really started to question his life, and where he was going with it and who he would be with in the future. Just thinking about those kind of thoughts made the short teenager feel uncomfortable, and for that he blamed Dufort. He didn't even recognize his feelings for the man before that day.

And when he told Dufort about it, the man would simply lean in to capture his lips again. Which annoyed Kiyomaro greatly, because while he was busy telling the older male about everything that bothered him, all the man could concentrate on was his body and what he could and would do with it? When Dufort pulled away, Kiyomaro instantly started complaining about it, to which Dufort didn't respond at all.

"If all I cared about was your body, I probably could have done something horrible to it long ago."

"Long ago? You're threatening me about it every single day!"

"Not true. I'm not threatening you. I never have. I'm just voicing my thoughts and what I'd like to do. That's not threatening at all."

"Yes, it is! It's scary." Kiyomaro pouted. Dufort sighed.

"Trust me, if I didn't care about you personally, I would have done it long ago. Okay?"

"I guess."

And yet he still didn't feel all that assured. But when Dufort leaned in to capture his lips one last time, Kiyomaro simply closed his eyes and shook all his worries away. Dufort wasn't the type of person to lie, anyway.

And so he could trust him.


	33. Charm

**A/N: …I tried Folgore/Kiyomaro in this chapter. Of course, it's pretty one-sided. But I thought it'd be funny to add. And yes, Dufort will be mad at him. xD**

**Prompt: Charm  
Words(without A/N): 922  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"Hey, hey! I came over to give you guys a visit! I heard that Gash and Zeon are off with the ever so lovely Suzume, and so I sent Kyanchome off to be her as well! So how about letting me hang out with you two for today? You know, like a man's day out! See, see, it's like a woman's day out when a woman goes out with her friends to gossip about men and stuff except…we're not bambinas, aha. So how about it?"

"Oh great, the neighborhood idiot is here."

"Hey! That's not nice!"

"I don't have to be nice to the likes of you! How the hell did you get in my house, anyway? Get the hell out of my house!" He threw a pillow at the Italian man, who ungracefully dodged it. "Damn it, I missed." The teenager growled under his breath.

"Anyways…" Folgore decided to completely ignore the attack. He rose back up to his full height and smiled. Kiyomaro shuddered. He didn't like that smile. "Where's Dufort? I was kind of planning on hanging out with him as well."

"He's sleeping."

Folgore looked at the nearby clock hanging on the wall. "…At two in the afternoon?"

"We stayed up nearly all night last night fighting a particularly powerful demon."

"Ah, he must've been pretty strong if even the mighty duo of Zeon and Dufort couldn't stop him! …With the ever so lovely Kiyomaro, of course." Kiyomaro's eye twitched.

"I never want anyone to call me 'lovely' again. Especially you. That's just creepy. Aren't you supposed to be grabbing your fans' breasts and singing your perverted song right about now? And like I said, the demon was pretty powerful. Gash was there, too. It took us until five in the morning to beat her."

"Aw, come on! Don't be like that, Kiyomaro!" Folgore shouted, throwing his arms rather dramatically in the air. "Today's my day off! I'd like to actually do something in my free time, and today, I decided to grace you two with my presence…!" He did a double take. "Er…just you for now, anyway. And I understand that Gash was there." Kiyomaro raised his eyebrows at this, but Folgore ignored him. "And her? The demon was a bambina? Oh, what did she look like? Did she have a fair chest?"

Kiyomaro responded by throwing another pillow at the man. This time, the pillow hit its target square in the face, and Folgore was knocked back so that his head hit the door. Hard. "She was nine." Kiyomaro stated firmly, irritation lacing the sides of his voice. "I doubt you'd be interested in her." Folgore shot right back up.

"Ah, but I'd give anybody a fair chance! No matter the age, love shall always prevail!" Another pillow to the face.

"You've never even met her! How the hell could you love her? And why the hell are you still in my house? I told you to leave!"

Folgore groggily sat back up once more, rubbing the back of his head and groaning. "That's not nice. And fine. If you think that being a pedophile is that horrible, which it shouldn't be, by the way!…Who do you think I should go after?"

"I don't know, and I don't really care! Get the hell out of my house!" Folgore ignored him and brought his hand to his chin, deep in thought.

"Hm…I want to give everybody a chance, regardless of the age or gender!" Kiyomaro nearly fell over.

"…You turned bisexual in less than a second? How the hell did you do that?"

"Huh? Oh, but my love expands everywhere, Kiyomaro! Would you like a sample?"

"What? Hell no!" Kiyomaro threw three more pillows at the man, who allowed all three to hit him. This time he did not flinch, but instead kept the goofy smile on his face. Kiyomaro groaned. "Why don't you just go outside, find one of your fans, and grab her chest or something? Then you can make out with her or whatever and leave me the hell alone!"

"What? Does my handsome charm not effect you?" Folgore grinned, inching ever closer.

"Dufort's going to kill you." Kiyomaro groaned angrily as the Italian man continued his advances. Pretty soon, the teenager ran out of pillows to throw. He quickly decided that if Folgore grew too close for comfort, he would grab the lamp and smash the man over his head with it.

"Ah, ah, Dufort will get a turn as well if he wants one."

"Like hell he would! Stop walking closer, or I swear I'll throw this lamp at you!"

"You wouldn't do that, Kiyomaro-chan!"

"What the hell? Don't call me that, it's scary, especially from you! I don't even let Dufort call me that! I'm warning you, one step closer and you will be bashed over the head with this lamp!" To strengthen his defenses, he grabbed the lamp by its handle. Folgore seemed not to mind and took one step closer. Kiyomaro raised the lamp but it was quickly taken out of his hands by someone else and the teenager saw his weapon being smashed over the perverted man's head. He looked behind him and saw Dufort looking pretty annoyed. "Oh hey, you woke up."

"Get out." Those two words frightened Folgore, and he backed up out of the house, leaving the door open. Kiyomaro got up and stuck his head outside and shouted.

"And I do _not _want a man's day out with you!"

Then he slammed the door.


	34. Roads

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short, I'm in unbelievable pain right now and it's killing me and oh my GOD IT HURTS. Dx**

**Prompt: Roads  
Words(without A/N): 277  
Rating: K  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

"Are you sure you're going down the right path?"

The question came as a surprise. Dufort turned to the younger teenager. "What do you mean?" Kiyomaro hesitated and thought for a moment before stating his answer.

"I mean, hanging around me, Gash, and Suzume. We aren't exactly 'popular' in this city, as I'm sure you've noticed by now. I know that you don't have a problem with the bullies and their circles, and Zeon doesn't either. It's just that by sticking around with us, you'll be in danger as well. Are you sure you want that?"

"I'm positive," Dufort said. "Zeon can't leave because of his close brotherly bonds with Gash, and I can't leave that demon here all by himself or else he'll get himself killed, and that won't be something I'll be able to live with. Besides," he poked the teenager's forehead. "I wouldn't be able to leave you behind, either. You'd probably would have either killed the two demon twins in anger and everyone else."

Kiyomaro pushed his hand away and pouted. "I wouldn't do that." Dufort raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Kiyomaro sighed and looked away. "Just…ignore what I said, then. It was a stupid thing to ask and I shouldn't have brought it up. I was just being an idiot." He then brightened up with a smile. "So! I think I'm going to see what Gash and Zeon are doing and hopefully that silver brat isn't up to any more mischief…and teaching Gash those horrible things again…" He groaned. The teenager then waved goodbye to the man and walked off.

Dufort stared after the teenager and sighed.

"…What was that all about?"


	35. Hunger

**A/N: Gehh, it still hurts a little bit, but it's a lot better today. ^^**

**And an all-dialogue chapter today, because those are fun to do. xDD**

**Prompt: Hunger  
Words(without A/N): 821  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"I'm hungry. Make me a sandwich."

"Haah? Why the hell do I have to make you lunch?"

"Because I'm hungry and I said so. Now do it."

"I'm not your servant!"

"No, but we can arrange that if you'd like."

"No way in hell!"

"What's with all the shouting? Gash is trying to sleep!"

"Zeon. It's two in the afternoon. Gash shouldn't be trying to sleep. And, oh! Go make Dufort a sandwich."

"What? Why the hell do I have to make him lunch?"

"That's what I said! Dufort, go make your own damn meal."

"I'm too lazy. I want you to do it, Kiyomaro."

"Why me? Why not make Zeon do it?"

"Because knowing Zeon, he'd probably poison my food or something. I trust you more."

"No way! Being lazy is not an excuse! Zeon, go make him lunch!"

"No! I have to watch Gash!"

"Then tell Gash to make lunch with you!"

"No! We can't cook! Well, Gash can, but I'm not putting him through that kind of labor!"

"What? Gash can't cook! He put cinnamon on our freaking breakfast! And we had eggs that day! I don't call that as being able to cook!"

"Well, it was delicious, wasn't it?"

"No! No, it was not!"

"I liked it, and that's all that matters. Now you are going to make my human partner a freaking sandwich or I'll make all of his fantasies come true!"

"…What the hell does that have to do with me?"

"Ninety nine percent of his perverted fantasies have to do with you. I'll tie you down to a chair and allow him to do whatever he wants to you."

"What? No! You can't do that!"

"You want to see if I can? Because I'll totally do it."

"No, I'd rather not get raped, thank you very much."

"I don't care! You're going to make him lunch so he will stop complaining about his empty stomach or else I'm tying you down to that chair!"

"…I'm not complaining…"

"Shut up, Dufort! And Zeon, we don't even have any rope! How the hell are you going to tie me down?"

"Hm, I'd use my cloak, but I don't want to stain and ruin it. Don't give me that look! Hm, I'll probably teleport myself to the nearest store and steal some rope and come back. Yeah, that'll do."

"What? Hell no!"

"Then make the human some damn lunch, weakling! Or I'll do it for you!"

"…Sure, you do that. I don't mind at all."

"…Wait, ignore that. Let me rephrase that. Ahem. Then make the human some damn lunch, weakling! Or I'll steal some rope and tie you down to that chair!"

"You can't be serious!"

"You want to try me?"

"Dufort, make him stop!"

"No. I kind of like the option of you choosing not to make my lunch more than the option of you making my lunch. It'll have a much better benefit."

"What? No! Zeon, don't you dare get any closer! Gash, get in here!"

"You idiot! He's trying to sleep!"

"Unuu! What is it, Kiyomaro?"

"…Trying to sleep, huh?"

"Uh…yeah. Let's go with that."

"…Right. Anyways, Gash. Want to make Dufort lunch?"

"Uwooh, not really. I was watching Praying Mantis Joe when you started screaming about something and then Zeon went to see what was wrong."

"Zeon told us you were trying to sleep."

"Huh? No, I'm wide awake."

"…Ehehe, so I lied a little. It's not as if anybody got hurt, so…!"

"Zeon! Anyway, Gash. Go make Dufort lunch."

"What? B-but I'm watching Kamiki-"

"I don't care. Go make Dufort lunch."

"You're mean!"

"Like I haven't heard that before. Zeon, go with him to make sure he doesn't cut any of his fingers off or set the house on fire."

"W-what? No, Gash! Don't do it! It's dangerous!"

"Darn, and I liked the idea of doing anything I wanted to you so much more."

"Shut up, Dufort. It won't take them long to make a sandwich, anyway."

"Are you sure? I don't trust those two demons. They might put rat poison in it or something."

"Ask your answer talker. It'll answer all of your uncertainties about the potentially lethal sandwich from hell that two little demons will give you."

"…You're reassuring."

"Aren't I?"

"Uwooh! We're done!"

"That was unbelievably fast."

"Well, we weren't sure what kind of sandwich Dufort likes, so we just went along with the classic!"

"Hm, okay. Wait, what? Gash, that's-"

"Shut up, human! You forced us to make a sandwich and this is the sandwich you get! Don't complain about it! You never specified details!"

"Zeon…But I'm pretty sure that-"

"Shut up!"

"Unuu! Here you go, Dufort!"

"Thanks, Gash."

"Dufort, aren't you going to use your answer talker to make sure it isn't poisoned or anything…? Ahaha…"

"…Gash…There isn't anything inside of it. You just gave me two pieces of bread."

"Unuu! I hope you like it!"


	36. Reciprocity

**A/N: Hm, this one strays from the 'humor' side. I…wanted to try something different. D:**

**Prompt: Reciprocity  
Words(without A/N): 1009  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

The teenager watched from afar as his love and his girlfriend walked by hand-in-hand, seeming to be having the time of their lives right at that current moment, and that was what angered the male. Sure, he was happy for them, but why should his happiness have to be taken away just to have his crush be happy? He was glad because his crush was happy, of course, but he couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't be happy as well. He was probably being selfish, thinking thoughts like this, but it just wasn't fair.

Oh look, they're laughing. His eyes narrowed. Well, at least the girl is. Maybe his crush just told a funny joke. That wasn't like him, the other male wasn't the type to make others laugh, and it most certainly wasn't the other way around.

_It was her._

That girl who dared to steal him away, oh, she'll suffer. And once his love came rushing back to him, he'd accept him and then they could live out the rest of their lives with both of them happy. His lips curled up into a bitter smirk. Of course that wouldn't happen. Sure, he could silently threaten the female all he wanted, but nothing would actually happen if he didn't take action. But…he wasn't the type of person who would actually hurt someone on purpose. Sure, he'd attack them without mercy if the people he loved and cared about were in genuine danger, but…this wasn't the case. That just wasn't him.

_He couldn't do anything._

His demon worried about him(although he was much more occupied with other things), but the older teenager simply brushed him off, saying everything was fine and that he needn't worry because everything would be resolved soon and everything else would all go back to normal and everyone could live out their peaceful lives once more, just like how it was before.

_What a lie that was._

Things would never go back to normal, not with that horrid woman around. And the worst part was that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it unless he decided to take action. But was it really worth it? Because even if he did lash out at her and end up killing her, he'd have to live with the regret for the rest of his life, and while he was a person who wouldn't hesitate to resorting to violence, actually taking another life was something else entirely.

_And that was what was slowly making him crazy._

He clutched his hair as he saw the happy couple just sitting on a bench. The female was talking his ear off, and he didn't say anything to her. It was probably to be polite, the teenager thought. Of course, you wouldn't just shout, "Shut the hell up!" to someone you would like to have a long term relationship with.

_But as the seconds passed by, he realized that he wanted it to happen so, so much._

The two rose from the bench and started walking hand in hand back the way the came. The teenager ducked behind a tree to avoid being seen. He was lucky. They passed by without realizing that another person was stalking them, watching them, listening to them. What a same. He thought that his crush had acute senses. Maybe he was wrong. The female was still talking. He wanted to hurt her, maybe even kill her, but he knew he couldn't.

_Because everything would just be so damn easier if he could just muster up the courage._

Maybe he would ambush her before she actually made it to her house. His love would have to leave her side sometime, though he might end up just walking her all the way to her house. The teenager hoped that wouldn't happen. But maybe if she died in her own home, he could make it look like a suicide. That could work, right? He chuckled humorlessly at the whole situation. He was one of the smartest people in the entire world yet he couldn't figure out something as simple as this.

_He would do it._

The sky was beginning to darken, and the two finally split paths. It was dark outside already, but there was still enough lighting just so that he could still see her. Nature was on his side, apparently. Then he felt a drop of liquid land on his nose. Then his cheeks. Then his entire face. It was raining. Just perfect for the occasion, wasn't it? But then he stopped in his tracks. What would he use to kill her? He didn't bring a weapon or anything.

_That was when he saw a shovel laying not too far away._

Well, wasn't that just convenient. He walked over to the shovel and picked it up, lightly tapping the metal. It was stiff and hard, not flexible in any sense of the word.

_It was perfect._

He continued following the girl until she made it to her house, and then stopped when he heard the jiggling of keys. Should he attack her now, or follow her in the house and ambush her inside? He didn't know how violent the scene would become, his answer talker wouldn't answer him. Why wouldn't it? This was the most important decision of his young life. He decided to just take her life right then and there.

_He lifted the shovel up…_

But then his body froze. He tried to swing his arms down, but they wouldn't move. Seconds that seemed like minutes passed as the girl found the correct key and quickly hurried into the house. It was as if his body knew this and allowed himself control again. The shovel dropped to the ground with a clang, and he immediately realized why the answer talker wouldn't answer him.

_He couldn't do it._

Even though he swore to, in the end, the teenager just couldn't bring himself to do it, to take another life, and he never would be able to.

_In the end…Kiyomaro just couldn't do it._

**OoO**

**A/N: Now you can go back to the top of the story and read just the italics by themselves. :)  
**


	37. Kind

**A/N: And now for an alternate view of last chapter!**

**Prompt: Kind  
Words(without A/N): 714  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

_They were 'just friends', right?_

She was nice, that was for sure. Dufort found himself making jokes just to hear her laugh. It wasn't that the laugh was beautiful or stirred something up inside of him or anything. No, that most certainly wasn't it. The girl's laugh was about as ear grating as nails on a chalkboard. Probably even worse. He didn't feel infatuated with her in the least bit. But she held a crush on him, and she probably got the idea that he liked her back.

_Why couldn't she understand that they weren't together, and will never be?_

Dufort knew of Kiyomaro's stalker-like habits that the younger teenager had been doing the past few days. He knew from the very first second, thanks to his answer talker. However, he didn't stop or confront the shorter male about it; instead, he wanted to see what the teenager would do. The man refused to use his answer talker about anything dealing with Kiyomaro, but anyone could easily tell that Kiyomaro was jealous. And it amused him.

_Because Kiyomaro was the one he loved, not that annoying woman._

Then it clicked into his mind on how Kiyomaro would end up handling the situation. The boy wasn't the type of person to just sit still and allow things to just happen. Sure, he was like that before the demon battle, but that wasn't Kiyomaro anymore. The new Kiyomaro would take action straight away, but now, he wasn't actually doing anything other than stalking them. Oh, what he would give to know what went on in the teenager's head. Of course, he still refused to use his answer talker.

_What would Kiyomaro do to save him from her?_

He offered to take her home in order to be polite, but she turned down his offer. Good. That meant that he could see her off sooner and stop listening to her annoying voice. He didn't even remember how the two started hanging out. Dufort took their times out together as simply a 'hang out'. Apparently the girl thought it was a date. How stupid she was.

_When the two finally parted, Kiyomaro took action._

Dufort noticed that Kiyomaro wasn't following him home like he did those other days. Instead, he was following the girl. He would have thought that the teenager was simply finding out where she lived when his answer talker answered for him. At first he couldn't believe it, but the answer talker never lied. But could Kiyomaro really pull something like that off?

_He was going to kill her._

The teenager had grabbed a shovel and snuck ever so closer to the girl. Was Dufort going to stop him? No. This was something that Kiyomaro had to do, and no matter how much he wanted to(which he didn't at all), he wasn't going to stop him. The shovel was raised as the girl fumbled around for her keys. Idiot. She didn't even know when there was a soon-to-be murderer right behind her. She found the key and jammed it into the hole and walked in her house.

_The shovel was still raised high into the air, even minutes after she had left._

Then it dropped to the ground with a clatter. Dufort shook his head and sighed. He was right. Kiyomaro really couldn't pull something like a murder off. Sure, he was one of the smartest humans in the world, but the teenager was pretty clueless when it came to those kinds of things. Which Dufort had to be thankful for. If Kiyomaro knew quite a bit about murdering, he'd probably kill the girl a long time ago, and possibly even killed Dufort so that no one else would get close to him. Which would drive the teenager in question insane because he killed the one he loved, and…

_Just forget about it._

Well, he was glad. Glad that Kiyomaro could be an idiot at crucial moments and glad that his body wouldn't allow himself to harm another human being. It was quite obvious that the teenager was in an uncomfortable stance, standing in an awkward position with the heavy shovel raised and standing stiff. It was his body that didn't let him, not his mind.

_Things will go back to normal sooner or later, anyway.  
_


	38. Fruity

**A/N: And…now we move on to another plot. :D**

**Also, more dialogue-only. …Because it's to make up for the last two chapters, which were dialogue-less. ._.;;**

**Prompt: Fruity  
Words(without A/N): 697  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"Wow, this is really good, Suzume!"

"I'm glad you like it, Gash! After all, I am a fruit lover, and I can only pick out the most perfect ones! …Takamine-kun, how come you haven't eaten that orange I brought you yet?"

"Huh? O-oh! I was just going to save it for later! Ahaha, yeah, that's it."

"Well, if you say so…"

"I find it extremely creepy that you drew all of our faces on the fruits. That's not a normal thing. Even for someone like you. It's scary and can be considered stalker-ish."

"Shut up, Zeon. At least Suzume brought you that apple. She didn't have to go out of her way to get something for you, you know. You should thank her."

"Tch, no way. It's not like I'm going to eat this apple with my face on it anyway. And besides, this doesn't even look like me!"

"Yes, it does! Unuu, I think that it looks a look like Zeon!"

"Gash, this looks like you."

"How the hell can you tell? You and Gash are identical twins, after all!"

"We're not completely identical! We wear different clothes and have different hair colors! Plus, Gash has one line running down from each eye while I have two. This hideous excuse for an apple only has one line coming down from each eye! It's Gash!"

"O-oh…But I thought I drew a Zeon with two lines and a Gash with one line on the apple and the pear, in that order! Did…did I get mixed up? Oh no! What if I gave Gash Zeon's fruit and Zeon Gash's fruit? Aah, I don't remember!"

"C-calm down, Suzume! It doesn't really matter, now does it? Zeon, go eat your damn apple to make her happy again."

"Fine!"

"Now was that so hard?"

"Yes. Yes, it was."

"…I hate you."

"And I love you."

"What the hell, Dufort? Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"But you're cute when you're scared."

"You think I'm cute no matter what I'm feeling, don't you?"

"…Yeah, pretty much."

"Oh, Dufort! There you are! I brought a peach for you! I didn't really remember how your hair looked, but I just remembered that it's really spikey. So here you are!"

"…Ahaha! Oh wow, Dufort. Out of everyone here, you got the worst looking drawing. That looks nothing like you!"

"…You…don't think my drawings are good…?"

"Huh? Ah, no, no! That was…erm…never mind that! Your drawings are the best, Suzume! Better than Zeon can do, anyway."

"You want to say that again, weak human?"

"…No, not really."

"I thought so."

"Unuu! Dufort, your drawing has really spikey hair! There are more spikes than you really have right now!"

"…Thanks, Gash. That's very kind of you."

"Unuu, you're welcome!"

"Takamine-kun, now that everyone's here, are you going to eat your orange now?"

"Huh? Ah, sure, okay then."

"…"

"What? …Oh, come on! It's not even an apple or a pear or anything! I'm not going to eat this if all you're going to do is stare at me the whole time."

"We need cake."

"Huh? Why?"

"I'd like to see how you'd eat it."

"Pervert!"

"Ow. That kind of hurt."

"You deserved it. Sorry, Mizuno. I don't feel comfortable at all eating this orange if all Dufort's going to do is stare at me the whole time."

"Oh, okay then…Oh, do you know where Alishie is?"

"No, why?"

"I wanted to give him this banana!"

"Please don't tell me you drew his face on that as well."

"Um…"

"Don't try to hide it! It's perfectly clear that you drew his face on it! Ugh, Mizuno! You have to stop that creepy hobby of yours. It's frightening."

"But it's fun! If you'd try it just once, you'll see how fun it is and why I do it in my free time! Here, I have a couple of mangoes with me here and a marker. Try drawing my face on them!"

"Um…I'd rather not. Thanks anyway, Mizuno."

"If you say so…"

"Hey, can you give me that mango?"

"Why do you want the mango, Dufort?"

"…Let's just say that I shouldn't say it in front of the children."

"Pervert!"


	39. Half Life

**A/N: This was originally going to take place in the Alternate Universe that I keep using over and over, but then I remembered the ending of the anime and then yeah that is where this came from. ._.;;**

**Prompt: Half-Life  
Words(without A/N): 1182  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: Spoilers for end of the anime/Dufort's past.  
Verse: Anime Universe.**

**OoO**

Dufort decided to isolate himself from the rest of the world the minute he was abandoned at the North Pole. He thought for sure that he was going to freeze to death; there was no need to use his answer talker to find out how much longer he had before he died. It didn't matter anyway. He was going to die, and that was all there was to it.

Then Zeon came along and threw a book at his face.

The boy at the time didn't understand what the book was for, and his answer talker wouldn't answer him anymore. Maybe it had shut down or something. Good riddance. It completely destroyed his life and made him a guinea pig for those damned scientists at the laboratory. Those same damned scientists that decided to leave him to rot in the middle of nowhere once they decided that they had 'gotten everything they could get out of him' and that he was 'not needed' anymore.

A glow from the book had confirmed the young silver haired demon's question on if this pitiful looking human was his human partner. The one to help him become ruler of Makai. Then again, Zeon didn't really care about becoming ruler. He never did. His life goal was to make his twin brother Gash's life a living hell, and he would do anything to achieve that goal.

Not once in a million years did he ever think that his new life goal would be to protect that same twin brother from any harm that ever came his way.

Then came the question of what the hell the human was doing sitting in the snow in the middle of no where. Dufort could ask the same of Zeon. Why come to the North Pole if there was a slim to none chance that no one would be there? Zeon had admitted that he didn't know the geography of the Earth all that well, and he didn't know where he was. He also said that if he didn't find a human anywhere in this frozen wasteland, he would just teleport out of there. The demon was about to do just that before he stumbled across the boy laying in front of him.

Zeon offered to take him somewhere much better than the cold place. After all, partners did have to stick together, right? Even if Zeon considered himself to be very powerful, much more powerful than the other demons, he would go nowhere without a human partner to accompany him. He stuck out his hand, waiting for Dufort's answer. The boy took it without hesitation.

Somewhere far away from the North Pole a few years later sighed a teenager who had way too much free time on his hands and had nothing and no one to spend it with.

His life was a bore. The teenager's so called 'friends' abandoned him years ago, and now he thought that he would have to spend the rest of his life all by himself. Not that he minded. Why should he waste time with those people who couldn't even comprehend half the things that ran through his mind each minute? They didn't fit in together at all. And Kiyomaro preferred it that way.

Then a lightning blonde six year old crashed through his window, his hands gripping tightly onto a large bird's talons. The boy was laughing as if he didn't have another care in the world, and as if he didn't care that he was currently making a mess of Kiyomaro's room.

…He probably didn't.

The boy had given Kiyomaro a letter, apparently from his father, and introduced himself as Gash Bell. Kiyomaro ignored him and opened the letter. As he read more and more of the handwritten note, the fourteen year old started to grow annoyed. His birthday present was an annoying little brat? How nice.

He looked up only to see the little boy in question swallow a fish whole and slide out the bones. Kiyomaro gaped in shock. How the…he just looked like an ordinary six year old boy! He just gobbled down a live fish in about two seconds!

"Who…who the hell are you?"

"I already told you! My name is Gash Bell!"

Many months later, Zeon and Gash would finally meet up again, and so would Dufort and Kiyomaro. Gash had no idea who Zeon was, having had his memories wiped a long time ago. Zeon was the person who stole them. Of course, his memories couldn't have been gone forever. The silver haired twin brother of his just absorbed it, meaning he had to know everything about Gash's past, from the moment he was born to the second he encountered Zeon in that forest when he first arrived in the human world.

Spells of silver and golden color were shot back and forth, and it was clear that Zeon had the advantage. He had a human partner who could predict his opponent's movements, and he also simply possessed more physical strength than both Gash and his human partner combined.

And what did Gash have? Nothing at all, really. He just had his somehow even weaker friends to pathetically back him up, very powerful determination(not that it would get him anywhere), a human partner who could probably go down in just one punch(Zeon didn't know why Dufort had suddenly taken an interest in the human), and a very stubborn streak that absolutely refused to allow him to give up.

Which is why Zeon was caught off guard and was in shock when Gash, the weak Gash Bell that was an insult to his family name, managed to completely turn the tables and burn his book. Oh, but he would not go down without a fight, of course. He would break the little gem on his forehead and then Faudo wouldn't be under anyone's control! Hah, that's right. In the end, even with his book burning and with his body halfway back to Makai, he would still win!

And he savored that sweet horror-struck look on his brothers face as he crushed the controller, and Gash could do nothing but watch as his twin brother completely vanished.

So things were in a crisis, with Faudo going on a rampage and everyone trying to save everyone else. Dufort didn't see the point, really. Zeon had made his life interesting, and now he was gone. Well, that just meant that he could go back to being suicidal, right? But there was something about that Kiyomaro human that he just couldn't seem to ignore…

And many months later after the Faudo crisis, he would learn everything about the human and even come to live with him. He had even managed to find Zeon walking on the streets one day, and convinced him to live with Gash, since he didn't have any other place else to call his own. Zeon could use a friend and brother like Gash. Of course, it was also a way to get even closer to Kiyomaro as well.

And he finally felt that his life was complete.


	40. Comedy of Errors

**A/N: Gehh…didn't really get this prompt, but whatever.**

**Prompt: Comedy of Errors  
Words(without A/N): 449  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: First movie spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"…Zeon, what the hell are you doing?"

"Poking you."

"…I can see and feel that. My question is why."

"Because I'm bored and there's nothing else to do."

"Go play with Gash."

"That bitch Tio dragged him off somewhere and even I can't find him."

"Don't say that about Tio! She's better than you, anyway."

"Tch, like I care. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to continue poking you."

"I do mind! Stop poking me!"

"Nah, I don't think I will."

"I'm going to call Dufort."

"What's he going to do, ground me? I don't care, I'll just disobey his rules anyway."

"He'll ban you from playing with Gash."

"He's my brother, we're bound to stick close together. My human partner can't ban me from seeing my own family, even if we were living on other sides of the world!"

"…When you first entered the human world, you were dead set on torturing Gash. Now he's pretty much your entire world. What's with that?"

"Shut up!"

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Which is exactly why I slapped you, pathetic human. I wouldn't slap your arm without the intent of you feeling any pain."

"I really hate you."

"So you've been telling me."

"It's true."

"I know. But I'm a demon, and you're a human, two completely different species. We were never meant to like each other not in the least bit. Not compatible at all."

"…But what about the demon battle?"

"What about it?"

"A demon has to pair up with a human partner so that their half of a heart can match up perfectly to create a whole heart, right? You kind of have to be compatible to even use your weakest spell."

"…Hehe."

"What's so funny?"

"You have half of a heart."

"…"

"See? I rendered you completely speechless. This is the least of what the awesome power of me can do."

"…Zeon. You have half of a heart as well."

"What? I do not! I have a whole heart. Yeah."

"If you had a whole heart, you and Dufort wouldn't be compatible. I know Wiseman had a complete heart and was able to work with Kotoha, but that was because he pretty much erased her heart, meaning he removed her memories and emotions. Even though Dufort's pretty much a walking, talking, soul-less…human most of the time, he still has memories and emotions, I'm sure."

"…You have half a heart. Hehe."

"You…! Did you even listen to a word of what I just said?"

"No, not really."

"Why the hell not?"

"Your voice annoys me. A lot."

"Then why are you still here?"

"…Good point. Hopefully I won't see you later."

"Zeon!"

Slam.

"…I really hate that demon."


	41. Tragedy

**A/N: This chapter is not what you think it is. Keep that in mind as you read. ^^;;  
**

**Prompt: Tragedy  
Words(without A/N): 1,067  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"No way…This…this isn't happening, right? He can't go down like that! He's supposed to be invincible! There's no way a creep like that jerk would be able to kill him so easily! Get up! No, no! Get up!"

"Z-Zeon…I don't think he'll be able to…" Gash sniffed.

"What are you saying, Gash? He's an important person to you, isn't he? Are you just going to sit there and act like he never existed? He was a big part of my life, and you know that! He was very powerful, just like I am, and…there's no way in hell that he could've gone down like this!"

"But…just look at him! He's all torn to bits, and…there's no way he could've made it. That demon really did a number on him, and-"

"Shut up! I can see that for myself! I just…I just don't want to believe it…"

The two huddled around the mangled corpse, Zeon gripping the ground in anger as Gash patted his dear twin brother on the back, looking downcast. The usual sparkle in his eyes were gone, and the bright golden hue of his eyes were dulled down to a mere orange. Zeon wasn't much better.

"Zeon, I think we should keep going…He would've wanted it that way."

"I know, but…could you leave us be for a few minutes? I want to say a few final words to him before we leave."

"…Okay. But please don't take too long, we can't stay here for that much longer or else the enemies will catch up to us and we won't have a chance at winning."

"All right."

Gash got up from his kneeling position and walked away, deep into the forest. Once he disappeared from sight and the silver haired demon was sure he wasn't in earshot, he turned back to the ripped and torn corpse and started to speak.

"You were important to us all. Sure, I didn't like you at first, but you…you grew on me. I can think of a few people who aren't going to take your death lightly. Hell, I'm not taking your death lightly at all right now either. You always seemed so…invincible. Sure, you died once, but Gash was able to revive you, right? I don't get why he doesn't seem all that worried or is mourning for you. But then, Gash has suffered through more trauma than I have. A lot more. Maybe he's just used to this kind of things. And…that's all I have to say to you. You were a good person, and so…I hope you rest in peace."

Zeon sat there, his eyes shut, silent. He heard the bushes rustle and knew that Gash had come back. How the blonde haired twin demon knew he was done with his final words to his fallen comrade, he didn't know nor did he even care. The silver haired demon rose from his sitting position and sighed. Right now all they had to do was to avenge the death of his friend by killing the person who had murdered him.

"Are you ready to go, Zeon?" Gash asked, placing one hand on the sword at his hips. Zeon nodded, and placed his hand on the handle of his own sword. They needed it to protect themselves from the monsters that inhabited the forest. Who knew when the shadow creatures would strike.

"I'm ready. We'll go to avenge his death, right?"

"Of course."

The two turned away from the corpse and started to walk away from it, side by side. They weren't about to lose another person close to them now that those two were all that was remaining. They needed to protect each other.

Zeon walked slower than Gash, and as a result, the blonde haired demon ended up walking ahead of him. The silver haired twin demon used this chance to look behind him and see his fallen partner just one last time.

"You really were important to me…I hope now you won't have to suffer anymore." He sniffed, which he considered odd. The only time he could ever remember crying in his entire life was when he realized the errors of his ways and was apologizing to Gash. Was this person really that important to him…?

The moment was interrupted when another voice broke through the forest.

"…Zeon? Who the hell are you talking to?"

"Raagh!" Zeon whipped around and nearly threw the controller at the screen in surprise. "What the hell? I was having a moment here, you know!"

"…Talking to my television?"

Gash, Zeon, and now the Kiyomaro that had just now walked into the room were looking at the television. Kiyomaro had set up a video game for them after they had bothered him so much about how bored they were. The teenager did not expect Zeon to actually pretend he was in the video game world. It…was scary, to say the least.

"No, you idiot! I was talking to our fallen partner! He died earlier but then Gash gave him a potion and then he came back to life. Then a shadow monster came along and attacked him and so Gash and I gave him the beating of his life, only to turn around and find that he was dead again!"

"…That doesn't explain why you were talking to my television. Zeon, it's a game. It's not real. Don't tell me you're really getting caught in the moment? After all this time?" The teenager allowed a sly smirk to show on his lips. Zeon fumed.

"If you really want to see a show of 'getting caught in the moment', why don't I go out and steal a hentai game and give it to Dufort? I'd love to see how he reacts!" Kiyomaro paled.

"Uh, ehe…There's no need for that, right? I mean, Dufort's pretty much doing fine right now."

"Fine except for the fact that he's been jumping you every five seconds now."

"Every five seconds? I don't know what you're talking about! Name one time where-" The teenager was interrupted as the door burst open and Dufort suddenly appeared out of nowhere to tackle Kiyomaro to the floor. He groaned. "Ugh, never mind." Zeon snickered as the teenager struggled to push Dufort off him.

"Now both of you, leave so Gash and I can continue with our game in peace."

"Just don't talk to the TV again."

"Shut up about that!"

**OoO**

**A/N: Me and my lack of ability to write anything serious. xDD;;  
**


	42. Hope is the Thing With Feathers

**A/N: More anime universe. :3**

**Prompt: Hope is the Thing With Feathers  
Words(without A/N): 973  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Anime Universe.**

**OoO**

Dufort felt as if he were locked in a cage for his entire life.

He also felt as if he were locked in a cage, and he was to never be let out. His life hadn't exactly proved to be fulfilling thus far, and the most important thing he had ever accomplished was meeting a certain silver haired bad mouthing obnoxious stubborn demon who went by the name of Zeon. And even then, the man felt as if there wasn't much more he could do, even with the entire course of the demon battle spread out in front of him like a map.

He wasn't a fortune teller. He couldn't see the future.

Sure, he had his answer talker that would answer any question he has, but he didn't use it for anything that involved his future, because all he knew was that he was going to live an unfulfilling life that held no purpose whatsoever to it. It was how he had always lived, and how he assumed he would continue living.

"Oi, why the long face?"

Dufort looked up to see the annoyed face of Zeon staring down at him. The two were in a forest, and they were currently traveling around the world in search of weak opponents to pluck out of the battle. Of course, torturing and humiliating Gash was still the top thing on Zeon's mind, and he didn't forget it for anything. But he assumed that Gash couldn't do anything without his memories and a human partner anyway, so if he managed to stumble across that weak brother of his, then he would drag him around just to humiliate him. Then he'd burn his book and become king, and humiliate him some more once they were back in Makai! It was a win-win situation, according to Zeon. Dufort didn't question it.

The man didn't answer the silver haired demon, and Zeon decided not to question it any further. Dufort was naturally a silent person, and the demon didn't mind. Though he probably would've liked the man more if he spoke at least more than five words an hour. Dufort would only talk to him if the situation called for it, and simply if he was bored. Zeon, on the other hand, could probably talk anyone elses ear off if given the chance.

Zeon shrugged and turned, walking ahead of the man, not caring if he left him behind or not. Dufort always managed to find his way back to him, anyway. And if he was ever truly lost, he had his answer talker to find his way back to the silver haired demon. So Zeon wasn't worried about leaving Dufort behind in the least bit.

Dufort knew this, and so he walked slowly in order to let Zeon walk farther and farther ahead of him until the small silver haired demon was finally out of site. The man by now had simply stopped walking all together, and he looked up at the sky. A bird had flown out of a tree and was now soaring high above his head, flying in circles a few times before moving on.

The man continued staring at the sky as more and more birds flew by, and Dufort couldn't help but start to feel a little jealous after each bird. They seemed so free, so happy…unlike him. He continued watching the birds until he found a pair of them, flying side by side, never leaving from the comfort of each other. The man silently wondered if he would ever have someone to call his own. His answer talker remained silent. Guess not.

In a way, Dufort envied the flying creatures. They were free, light, and had no burdens or duties to carry on their small shoulders. The birds weren't trapped in a small cage like he was; they were free to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. Well, Dufort could do that too, but he was still forced to stay by Zeon's side. The silver haired demon wasn't his friend, no, but he was the closest person to him, even if he wasn't a human. It wasn't normal. Then again, Dufort wasn't exactly what one would call a 'normal person'.

Would he be able to one day become free and soar high like the birds? He sure hoped so. Living an entire life trapped in such a tiny cage with no one around who would want to help you, being so lonely and without purpose would immediately turn anyone off. Dufort was no exception to this. No one would want to live a life like that, and the man didn't like living a life like that. Why he couldn't just go out there and change everything, he didn't know. Maybe it was because he was locked in the cage, and wasn't allowed out for anything.

He never would have guessed that many months later, he would finally be let out of his cage by a younger male, and that male would be the one person he would like to call his own. Dufort would finally be free of his small cage, and it would be thanks to a certain teenager, who just so happened to be the spell caster of the red book that belonged to Gash, the demon that Zeon hated so much. Everything was so weird.

But for now, he sighed and decided that he would just wait and see where life would take him, and who or what he would encounter along the way. His life wasn't over yet. He still had his debt to pay to Zeon for finding him at the North Pole, after all. Besides, the demon battle was a perfect way to kill some time.

So for now, he would put his hope in the birds that soared so high in the sky.


	43. Empire

**A/N: I'm so busy. ._. And school starts on Tuesday! D': Not looking forward to that. ;-;**

**Especially since I found out that I have GYM for homeroom! Oh my God, why gym? That's the worst homeroom I could possibly have! Dx  
**

**Prompt: Empire  
Words(without A/N): 798  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"And this is the castle Gash and I were born in. It is also the place where I underwent the most harshest training you can even think of. Actually, no. More than you can possibly even think of. It was pretty much hell on Makai. This place holds bad memories for me."

"There, there, Zeon. No need to get so emotional."

"I'm not getting-whatever. So yeah. This is also the place where you will be staying during your visit to Makai, and I'll have you know that the rooms in the castle are of the finest quality, so I don't want you two messing it up with your human germs of yours!"

"…Yeah. Thanks, Zeon."

"So when will we get a room?"

"As soon as the tour of Makai is over."

"Which will be…?"

"Hm, at this rate, seven hours."

"What? We've been walking around this entire world for five hours already and you're telling me we aren't even halfway done? Ugh!"

"You're tired already? Gash and I haven't even broken a sweat."

"It's freaking cold out here!"

"…Yeah. Not what you'd expect for hell, huh?"

The bookkeepers and demons were in Makai, the world where Gash and Zeon had come from. Gash offered to take them there, and he was allowed to, since he was the king. He wanted to give them a tour around the entire planet. Zeon agreed only because he didn't have anything else to do, plus there was a chance he could ridicule or humiliate Kiyomaro along the way.

"I want to go home," Kiyomaro moaned. "I'm tired of this place. My nose is running, my legs are stiff, I can't walk another step, and it's cold!"

"Stop whining."

"Why do we have to walk? Can't we use Zeon's cloak to carry us everywhere?"

"Hell no! My cloak is far too valuable to be wasted on a pathetic weakling such as yourself! You humans are so weak!"

"I hate you! At least find me something warm to wear! Wearing short sleeves is not helping with this freezing temperature!"

"Go snuggle up to Dufort or something!"

"…You know what, that's a good idea. Dufort, carry me."

"Will do."

Without hesitation, the man picked up the smaller teenager and hugged him close to himself. Kiyomaro sighed in contentment.

"How the heck are you so warm when it's so cold out here?"

"Yeah," Zeon snorted. "With Dufort's personality, he should be cold all the time." Gash frowned.

"That's not nice, Zeon."

"I'm not a nice demon. So!" He turned to the humans with a grin on his face. "Since Gash already proposed the idea of showing you the castle, which we are already at, it's my turn to decide where to go next! And I choose the high security prison!"

"Ze-Zeon!" Gash gasped. "Only the worst of the worst get sent there! Bad demons like Zophise and very dangerous demons like Demoruto stay there. We can't go!"

"That's right," Kiyomaro mumbled in the folds of Dufort's shirt. "We probably sent half of those demons there, anyway. No doubt they'd be wanting revenge, and seeing Gash would refuel that burning desire for it. I don't think it's a good idea."

"'I don't think it's a good idea,'" Zeon mimicked in a high voice, earning a glare from the teenager. "Fine. So, where do you want to go?"

"Home!"

"Shut up! We spent hours traveling here, I'm not going to spend even more time just sending you home! And we're not going in the castle, either! Yuno's still on duty and I hate that bitch with a burning passion and I absolutely refuse to go in there at the same time she is!" He calmed down. "All right. Let's show them our school, Gash."

"Unuu! Okay, Zeon!" Gash grabbed Dufort's pant leg and tugged at it, indicating for the man to follow him. He did so. Zeon simply stood there as the three of them(Kiyomaro was still being carried by Dufort) walked out of sight. He then turned to the castle and scowled.

"I don't get why we have to go to school when we rule over the entire world as one huge empire," he scoffed. "I should make Yuno go there and be a janitor. Yeah, that'd be a fun punishment to carry out, and even assign, hehehe. Serves that bitch right. Whatever. I'd better go and follow them before I lose them." He then turned and ran after the three, who were almost on school grounds.

"The school is huge, isn't it, Kiyomaro? Much larger than yours." Zeon snickered. He didn't get a reply. When he turned to look at him, he found the teenager fast asleep in Dufort's arms. The silver haired twin demon quickly grew annoyed. "Hey! No one said you could fall asleep!"


	44. Turpentine Kisses and Mistaken Blows

**A/N: Today was my brother's birthday! 8D I…didn't do much other than saying happy birthday and eating his cake. Ahaha…**

**Prompt: Turpentine Kisses and Mistaken Blows  
Words(without A/N): 1010  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe**

**OoO**

"I'm sorry, okay? How many times do I have to say it?"

"You can stop saying it, because I'm never going to forgive you! I thought you'd know something was wrong when something like that happened, but no! You just kept on beating the hell out of those guys and not paying any attention to me at all _even when you punched me in the face!_" Dufort groaned.

"I didn't know that was you!"

"Of course you didn't." Kiyomaro sighed. "Though it's perfect, isn't it?"

"…How so?"

"That one punch was enough to send me flying, and you still continued fighting as if nothing ever happened to me. You probably put all of your problems that are caused by me in that one punch, because I've been relying on you for far too long…isn't that right?"

"What? No. It's not like that at all." Even in a situation where most normal people would panic, Dufort managed to stay calm. Well, as calm as he could be in this kind of a situation, anyway. And besides, Dufort wasn't the most normal person in the world. "I swear, I did not know it was you. They were surrounding you, and I just blindly ran in when I shouldn't have. I'm sorry if I hurt you-"

"If? _If?_" Kiyomaro scoffed. "You freaking punched me in the face! There is no way an '_if_'' is going to fit in that equation at all! You punched me, left me behind, and now that you found out that I'm actually mad at you, you're trying to cover it up."

"That's not it," Dufort felt his irritation increase with each second. Zeon was making fun of the two's argument behind their backs, but he could still hear the annoying demon, and that was what was angering him the most. Even still, he tried to remain as calm as possible. But the possible was shrinking more and more. "I swear that I did not know it was you I punched first. I'm not denying that I punched you-"

"I know that, and that isn't the problem! I could hardly care less if you punched me across the face!"

"Then what's the problem?" Kiyomaro paused and sniffed a bit before he shouted out the last words,

"It was the fact that you punched me and _you didn't even care about it!_" With that, the teenager broke into a run and left the other three people behind. Dufort didn't even try to chase after him, if the boy was that truly upset, there was no person in the entire world that could catch him. What the man did do, however, was think about how he could remedy the situation.

"Wow, you really got yourself in a tight fix there, Dufort. Though Kiyomaro's probably overreacting," Zeon scoffed. "So the guy got hit in the face, big freaking deal! He gets hit all the time, and _now _he starts crying about it?"

"That's not the problem, Zeon," Dufort groaned, bringing a hand to his head and rubbing his temple. "It's the fact that it was _me _who punched him. Me. The person who's been by his side for years. I slip up once and I pay a harsh price." He sighed. Zeon turned to look at him with an irritated expression.

"Just leave him alone, then. You aren't the one who should be apologizing to him, it's him who should apologize to you. He's the one who's dragging you down anyway, right? You're freaking invincible! No one ever dares to cross you or else they'll find their body miles away, dumped in the ocean and their disembodied head clogging up the sewage!"

"Zeon!" Gash shouted, horrified at Zeon's use of words. Zeon cursed under his breath and used his hands to cover his blonde twin demon's small ears to prevent him from hearing anything else he shouldn't.

"So yeah. I say just leave him behind. If he really loves you that much, then he'll see how wrong he was and come back to you, apologizing along the way." He then smirked evilly and went on. "And then you'll never forgive him and leave him behind so he can be all alone like he should be!" He laughed as Dufort glared at him.

"I'll never do that. I love Kiyomaro. If he thinks that I'm the one who should apologize, then it's him. Though he knows this city much more than I do, so…I don't have a chance of finding him now. He'll have to return home sometime, so I'll just leave a letter on the table or something. I just hope he doesn't get targeted by a bully circle."

"What if he's already home?" Gash asked. Zeon looked confused; his hands were covering his brother's ears, but did he hear the conversation anyway? Crap. Dufort turned to look at the young blonde haired demon.

"I doubt it. He knows that's the first place I'll look for him, so he probably went in the opposite direction."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go home."

"…You're not even going to try and find Kiyomaro?"

"No. I hope he understands the reason why when he finds out I'm not looking for him."

"Yeah, that'd screw up your relationship even more." Zeon snickered. A cold glare from Dufort instantly shut him up.

"I just worry that he'll think that I don't care for him once he finds out I'm not looking for him."

"He'll understand," Gash smiled. "I've known him for a long time. He's really stubborn, but he always eventually finds the truth in things. That's just how Kiyomaro is."

"Oh, look. We're home." Zeon tired of the conversation and decided to remind his two companions that they were now standing in front of their destination. The silver haired demon turned to Dufort. "We're home," he repeated. "What are you going to do know?" Dufort sighed and took the keys out of his pocket and placed the key in the keyhole to unlock the door.

"I'm going to write that letter."


	45. Rings

**A/N: Yay for animating a chorus video for youtube. 8D**

**I'm still NOT looking forward to going to school on Tuesday. WHY DO I HAVE GYM FOR HOMEROOM WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY**

**-tiny rant over-  
**

**Prompt: Rings  
Words(without A/N): 602  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"So…why did you bring me here, exactly?"

"To look for a ring."

"What for?"

"I don't know. Probably for when I decide to propose to you."

"W-what?" Kiyomaro stammered. "I'm still fourteen! And you're still…however old you are." Dufort would've laughed if it wasn't against his character. "We're kind of too young to marry! Well, I don't know about you, but I am!"

"Who said anything about proposing now?"

"Wha-what? What are you talking about now?" Kiyomaro glared at him, but it didn't go over so well with the red flush that painted itself across his otherwise pale cheeks. Dufort noted that the smaller teenager was blushing more and more often. He thought it was a good thing.

"I already know that we're too young to marry. Which is why I'm going to wait until we're both older. Or, you at least. Once you're old enough, I will be as well."

"…Do you even know how old you are?"

"No." Kiyomaro was taken aback. How could anyone not know how old they were? Did Dufort's childhood really mess him up that badly that he could even remember his own age? Even so, couldn't he use his own answer talker to find out his age?

As if he read his mind, Dufort answered him. "No. I just spent so much time in that laboratory that I don't even know how many years it was. I'm not exactly sure how old I was when I was abandoned there. And about the answer talker, I don't really care for my age all that much. It's just a number."

"A number that the higher it is, the sooner your death will arrive." Kiyomaro muttered under his breath. Dufort seemed to have heard him.

"That's not true. You could probably die at age twenty two due to natural causes. You could also die at the age of ninety four due to the exact same reason: natural causes."

"Are you saying I'm going to die once I turn twenty two? How could you?" Dufort wasn't exactly sure how Kiyomaro got that train of logic, but he decided to just shrug it off and allow the light teenager to beat his chest with clenched fists. It didn't hurt, anyway. After a few minutes, the fists retracted and Kiyomaro took a deep breath. "So…you're going to propose to me sometime in the future?"

"Most likely." Dufort shrugged. "I honestly don't see myself proposing to anyone else." Kiyomaro allowed a mischievous smirk to come across his face.

"Oh? So, what if I decline your proposal?" The older man actually seemed a bit shocked by these words. Kiyomaro did all he could to keep himself from bursting out into laughter when Dufort slowly turned to look at him. The look of shock on the man's face quickly vanished in an instant, and a mischievous glint of his own shone in his eyes.

"Then I'd kidnap you and torture you until you say yes."

"Torture how?" As Dufort brought his hand to his chin, Kiyomaro quickly realized what he said and yet another soft red hue painted across his cheeks. Dufort hummed and allowed the fantasies to play across his mind. Kiyomaro narrowed his eyes and slapped the man(though it didn't do much) and frowned. "Pervert!"

"But you still hang around me anyway."

"You…! Never mind! Let's go, I'm sure Gash and Zeon are waiting for us back at the house!" He grabbed Dufort's arm and dragged him out of the store, completely ignoring the man's reminders about getting a ring. The man eventually sighed and shrugged it off.

He'll get it later.


	46. Dust

**A/N: Nineteen more prompts, including this one!**

**I'd ramble on and on and on and on about how I dread going to school tomorrow, but I've been doing so for the past two hours and I'll leave you alone this time. :P**

**I'll tell you how it went tomorrow. ;-;**

**Prompt: Dust  
Words(without A/N): 787  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"So…why are we in the middle of a desert in the United States again?" Kiyomaro asked, coughing into his elbow.

"Because that's where the enemy retreated to." Dufort said as if it were the most casual thing in the world to talk about and as if they were in the teenager's room having a small conversation all the way back in Japan.

"And why the hell did we have to chase him here again?"

"Because he insulted Gash by calling him short, Zeon got angry and told him to do something to himself that I will not repeat in front of these children, he then shot back saying that Zeon was even shorter even though that pretty much isn't true because Gash and Zeon are identical twins minus the hair and eye color, Zeon got angry, he got scared, and we tracked him all the way here."

"You just aren't repeating it because I'm here and would smack you for it." Kiyomaro grumbled.

"Yeah. Though it usually doesn't hurt. I just like to humor you and say it does. Apparently you like hitting me and causing me pain, no matter how minuscule said pain would be. I won't ruin the fun for you."

"You little-!" The shorter teenager smacked his arm, but Dufort didn't even flinch in the slightest. This annoyed Kiyomaro, and he felt his eye twitch. "You're laughing at me on the inside, aren't you." Again with the 'not a question but a statement'.

"No. I do not laugh on the outside, and I do not laugh on the inside either. What you see me as is pretty much exactly who I am."

"A perverted, cold hearted person who likes telling me about his wicked fantasies and annoying me very much while trying to get me in bed?"

"…Yeah, pretty much."

"I hate you."

"You don't mean that."

"…Damn, you're right."

"And I love you, too."

"Shut the hell up and help me find that bastard who called me and Gash short!" Zeon shouted, interrupting the conversation between the two bookkeepers. His face was beet red from the heat and he was breathing heavily. The silver haired demon obviously did not like staying in the sandy desert any more than Kiyomaro did.

"Unuu…Zeon…I want to go home…please teleport us back?" Gash groaned. He was pretty much in the same position as his brother, red face and breathing heavily. Though the ever arrogant spark in Zeon's eyes still existed(no matter how barely), Gash's had vanished hours ago, about an hour after they had landed in the desert.

"Gash, he's not going to listen to you, no matter how much you plead and beg him. He's that angry at the demon. When we find him, I…I…I don't know what I'm going to do. But when we get home, I am turning on the air conditioner and going to bed wearing those pajamas that Dufort wants me to wear so much for some reason." Kiyomaro moaned. Zeon and Gash, being demons, had adjusted to the blazing heat more than he had, and so the teenager was in an even worse condition than Gash. "I swear I am going to have a sunburn all over by the time we get back if I don't have one already."

"I can help you put ointment on." Dufort suggested.

"Hell no! You're just going to imagine doing something perverted and we would end up doing something else entirely!"

"I wouldn't mind that." Dufort was in the best shape out of all of them somehow. The heat seemed to not affect him at all, and his skin was as pale as ever. Kiyomaro was annoyed at him for this. Why did he get to somehow stay cool while the rest of them were being roasted alive?

"Shut up…! It's so freaking hot…" Kiyomaro moaned, still trudging through the sand. "You know what? Never mind. Gash, ask Zeon to bring us back home. Beg and get down on your knees if you have to! I'm so freaking tired of walking and we aren't even getting anywhere! I bet the demon you're after isn't even here anymore!"

"Please, Zeon?" Gash shouted suddenly, tackling his twin brother to the floor. "Please bring us back!"

"Fine, fine!" Zeon grunted, pushing the blonde twin demon off him and sending him into the sand. "I'll bring us back. Hold on." His silver cloak moved and wrapped around all of them, and in a second they disappeared.

The next second they were back in Kiyomaro's room in Japan, and the two demons and Kiyomaro immediately fell to the floor, exhausted. Dufort was the only one remaining standing.

"…I'm going to read a book while waiting for them to wake up."


	47. Every You, Every Me

**A/N: I kind of have to hurry with this prompt today. I was seriously thinking of skipping today's prompt and just doing two of them tomorrow; that's how much of a rush I'm in. Dx**

**So I'll have to tell you about my first day of school tomorrow, and yeah.**

**I hope you still like this chapter/prompt. :3**

**Prompt: Every You, Every Me  
Words(without A/N): 271  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"How many of us do you think there are?"

It was a pretty odd question to come from a fourteen year old boy, but Dufort didn't decide to question it…much.

"…What?"

"How many of us do you think there are?" Kiyomaro repeated, poking the man's side endlessly. It was beginning to get quite annoying, but Dufort didn't push the teenager's arm away or anything of the sort.

"I heard you. I'm asking what do you mean by that."

"Well…" Kiyomaro placed his finger on his chin and thought for a while. A few minutes later, he started to speak again. "I'm just saying that there can't only be just the two of us here, right? I mean, for all we know, there could be a billion other versions of us walking about in alternate universes, playing out different scenarios. Like, maybe Zeon had defeated Gash and he became the king instead. The Gash in that universe would be pretty miserable, right?"

"…I guess. But I highly doubt that there are alternate versions of ourselves anywhere in existence." Kiyomaro pouted, but then instantly cheered up again five seconds later.

"Then it looks like I'll have to make alternate versions of ourselves all on my own!"

Dufort was now honestly confused. His 'no using the answer talker on Kiyomaro ever' vow was beginning to get quite annoying.

"…And how are you going to do that?" Kiyomaro smirked and evil grin and dragged the man to the computer and brought up a word document and started typing. "…What are you typing?" The teenager turned to him with a bright smile on his face.

"Fanfiction!"


	48. Project

**A/N: Okay! I actually have a little more time to describe how my first day went!**

**So…in short, it was pretty boring.**

**I got about a million papers(and heck, one of the papers I actually NEEDED, nobody passed it down to me and so I couldn't turn it in this morning. WHAT WAS WITH THAT. The person I was talking to got one, and she was next to me the entire time! How did I not notice she got it? -headdesk-), and met my new teachers.**

**The person I hate isn't in any of my classes(except Spanish, but the teacher assigned our desks on opposite sides of the room, so HAH.), and he's only in my lunch period every other day. Besides that, all of my friends have lunch with me(Except for one, who doesn't have lunch with me every other day.), and I have at least one class with most of my friends.**

…**If one of my best friends didn't have last period with me, I probably wouldn't have made it halfway through that class, ehe…**

**Prompt: Project  
Words(without A/N): 747  
Rating: T+ (For the conversation…don't say I didn't warn you. ;-;)  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"Are you sure you don't need any help with that?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine! The last thing I want is for you to taint this thing with your perverted ways. And then you'd force me to read it. And then you'd propose the idea of acting out what you wrote, and I'd rather not want that!"

"Seriously? I've been asking you and making moves on you for months and you still won't succumb to it?"

"I shall never bow down to your perverted needs!"

"…You'll have to give in sometime, you know."

"No! I will never! Now shut up and let me continue writing this!"

"Or are you worried about being on bottom? But with me, there's no other place you'd be."

"Shu…shut the hell up!" The teenager's face was now completely beet red from embarrassment. "Stop talking about that or I'll whack you!"

"I wouldn't mind."

"Go play with Gash or Zeon!"

"They're at Mizuno's house." Dufort pointed out. Kiyomaro groaned. The man never called Suzume by her first name, but always her surname. Kiyomaro never understood it; Dufort wasn't really a polite type of person, so he wondered what was with the formality with Suzume.

"Why don't you just call Mizuno Suzume? Why are you always so polite to her?"

"Why do you call her Mizuno, Kiyomaro?" Dufort shot back. "I'm not the only one using formalities with her." Kiyomaro narrowed his eyes at the man and leaned forward in his chair to get closer. This ended up completely failing and the teenager fell over and flat on his face.

"…Ow."

Instead of helping his lover up, Dufort stepped over the boy and looked at the computer screen. Kiyomaro instantly shot up and tried to shove him out of the way, but it proved to be useless. Dufort could really be sturdy when he wanted to be. But Kiyomaro wasn't the type of person to give up. He continued to shove and push the man out of the computer screen's way as much as he could, but his frail body couldn't match up at all to the brute strength Dufort possessed. In the end, the teenager gave up and allowed the man to read what he wrote, and he sat on the floor.

Dufort turned to him with a completely calm looking face. That face was what worried Kiyomaro. He didn't understand; wouldn't Dufort be mad or sad or happy or anything at all about what he wrote? Then again, seeing the man express any kind of emotion at all would be very unusual, and so now the teenager was getting used to the man's calm face.

"…I didn't read it."

Kiyomaro would have fell over if he weren't already sitting on the floor. "W-what? Y-y-y-you were right in front of the computer screen; how could you not have read any of it at all?"

"Now that is how you will act once I finally get you to agree." This caught Kiyomaro off guard.

"…How I will act? Act like what? And when I agree to what?"

"To my advances." Kiyomaro was about to shout something angrily at the man but was promptly cut off. "You tried to push me, I wouldn't move. In the end you gave up and allowed me to have my way. And that is exactly what will happen once I get you to finally agree to my advances."

"No way in hell!" Kiyomaro shot up from his sitting position and jabbed his finger at the man's nose. "I shall never succumb to your horrible perverted ways! Never! If I had any interest at all, don't you think I would have agreed to you by now?" Dufort ignored the finger on his nose and started to speak.

"Maybe. You're very stubborn, you know. I may even have to wait years to finally get you to agree. Though it is the best. With you still being underage and all. But still. Four years is a long time."

"Shut up!" Kiyomaro jabbed his finger even more to the man's nose. "I can't even believe I'm actually having this conversation with you!"

"Eh. But you are, and so that means that you have an ounce of interest somewhere."

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"…Shut up and let me continue writing my damn story."

"I win. You'll succumb to my advances one day."

"Like hell I will! Now shut up and go read a book or something!"


	49. Adore

**A/N: No reviews for the last chapter? Was it really that bad? ;-;**

**Aha, I'm just joking. But I really would like to know what you at least thought of it…**

**Prompt: Adore  
Words(without A/N): 889  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"I hate you all."

"Mmhm. Of course you do. Or you should at least hate Dufort. He's the one who forced you to wear that, anyway."

"You convinced him to actually do it!"

"But you look adorable in that."

"Shut up!"

Kiyomaro stood at the doorway, with cat ears on the top of his head and wearing a black maid dress. He scratched his head often, in a not so subtle attempt at getting the cat ears off 'accidentally'.

"Ah-ah-ah," Zeon smirked. "You can't take that off until the end of the day. Until then, you're our slave! Ahaha!"

"I am not! I'm apparently only Dufort's…apprentice…until the day ends! Nothing about you and Gash! Now go away!" Zeon frowned.

"I don't want to." He instantly cheered up a second later. "Besides, you're our maid now! You can't order me around; I'm supposed to order you around! Ahaha!"

"Zeon, listen to him. Leave the room." Dufort suddenly commanded. Zeon turned around, obviously confused.

"What?" He then narrowed his eyes and grinned evilly. "Oh, I see. You want some personal time with your new slave, I see." Kiyomaro's face instantly flushed red.

"Hell no!" The teenager shouted. "Nothing is going to happen! You know what? Stay here! You'll be my shield from that monster. I know he wouldn't dare to even think about doing his perverted acts in front of you."

"Actually, I would." Dufort pointed out. Kiyomaro glared at him.

"Okay, then Gash! Don't go around shattering innocent six year old minds!"

"Aw, gee. Thanks for calling me innocent. Though I could do without the whole 'six year old' thing."

"Shut up, Zeon! I wasn't talking about you!"

"Hm, but I really like the idea of you being my slave." Kiyomaro's eye twitched. "And if you're my slave, then you have to do everything I want, right?"

"So get to work, slave!" Zeon laughed. Kiyomaro glared at the demon and human pair.

"No! And stop calling me your slave!"

"Oh? Would you rather be called a maid, instead?" Zeon laughed. Gash looked honestly confused, but he didn't try to enter the conversation.

"Hell no!" Kiyomaro shouted, his face now completely a beet red color.

"Then choose one," Dufort spoke up. "You're either a slave or a maid. Or both. I don't mind which one, really. Though I'd prefer to call you both a maid and a slave. You know. So I won't have to constantly remind myself to only call you one thing."

"I hate you. You aren't honestly going to make me choose between those two, are you?"

"Three." Zeon corrected.

"Shut up!"

"Yeah." Dufort answered, completely ignoring the silver haired demon.

"Then I refuse!" Kiyomaro shut his eyes and turned on his heel while crossing his arms stubbornly. "You can't force me to choose what I'd like to be called! They're both degrading!"

"Well, you do have to do whatever I say until the end of the day. And last time I checked, which was just right now, it's still pretty bright outside. Meaning you still owe me twelve more hours of service, until midnight. So I command you to choose between one of those two options. Be called a slave, or be called a maid." Kiyomaro turned back around, uncrossing his arms.

"Seriously?" Dufort nodded. "Why can't I just be called a servant or a butler or something?"

"Those aren't degrading enough." Zeon snickered. Gash still looked completely confused at the conversation, and his silver twin brother didn't seem like he was going to fill him in anytime soon.

"Says you." Kiyomaro growled.

"Yes, says me. I'm your master, so I force you to agree with everything I say!"

"No, you aren't! Dufort is my master, so stop saying that!" Kiyomaro blushed when he realized what he just said and hoped Dufort didn't catch on. Unfortunately for him, the man did indeed catch on.

"…Yes. Kiyomaro is my maid." He ignored the shout of protest from the younger male. "And I'm his master. No one else. So Zeon, leave the room with Gash. Now."

"You aren't my master!" Zeon shouted.

"No, but you are my demon, and I hold your book. I can choose to get rid of it and send you back to Makai whenever I want. Even though Gash is the new king, you demons still have no ways of staying in this world without a spell book to establish this link. So if I choose to get rid of it, you can't come back." Zeon shrunk back in defeat and growled.

"Fine! Come on, Gash. They're getting boring, anyway."

"U-Unuu!" The two left the room a few moments later, leaving the two older males in the teenager's room.

"So, what do you want me to do now, 'master'?" Kiyomaro forcefully said the last word. Dufort didn't seem to mind.

"I'm tired. Let's go to sleep."

"Okay, then you can go downstairs and sleep on the couch."

"Nah, I'm too lazy. I'm going to sleep on your bed."

"What the hell for?"

"Because it's comfortable. Now come over here, you're going to be my hug pillow."

"Hell no!"

"Remember the deal we had? If you defied any of my orders, your sentence would have to be extended to another full day, and this time, you'd have to serve both Zeon and Gash as well."

"…Fine."


	50. Murmur

**A/N: Oh. I found out why there weren't any reviews two chapters ago, then. xDD;;**

**So many songs I want to sing and so little time. ;-; The only audition I got done today was Yowamushi Montblanc, and that was for Youtube Chorus. xDD;; Apparently I did good, but eh…**

**Prompt: Murmur  
Words(without A/N): 799  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"I'm tired."

"Then go to bed."

"I don't want to."

"Then why did you complain to me about being tired? If you're so tired, then go to bed. I'm not going to tuck you in." The teenager glared at him after he said that.

"I don't need you to tuck me in anywhere! What, so I'm not allowed to tell you when I'm feeling tired?"

"No. No you are not."

"I hate you."

"So you've been saying, yet you've been staying with me, anyway. Why is that?" Kiyomaro's face flushed bright red at this. He quickly started mumbling, trying to come up with anything that could sound even remotely like a sentence that made at least some sense, but was coming up short.

"Be-because…" he mumbled before he finally thought of what to say and smirked at the older male. "Because Gash lives with me and Zeon won't leave him alone for anything!"

"And what does this have to do with me?" Kiyomaro's smile faltered a bit, but he continued on with his explanation.

"You're his bookkeeper! You kind of have to stay with him, don't you?" The man didn't answer back, and the smile from the teenager's face was completely wiped off now with a look of confusion replacing it. "You'd seriously dump that little monster off here? With just me to watch over him? He'll kill me! I'd die in less than a week!" Dufort would've smirked if it weren't against his character to do so.

"No, he wouldn't. After all, you've been doing a fine job of watching Zeon yourself, haven't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't really watch Zeon all that much. I just hand him off to you. Whenever you tell me to control him, I don't do anything, now do I? I just do whatever I was doing before, and leave you all alone to deal with the problem demon yourself."

"You-you-you…!" Kiyomaro stammered, completely at a loss for words. He then settled for another glare at the man. "Then fine! I'm going to bed! And you can't stop me!"

"I wasn't going to. I was the one who suggested for you to go to bed in the first place, remember?"

"Shut up!" Kiyomaro's response was one you'd usually expect from the stubborn teenager as he grabbed a nearby pillow and threw it at Dufort's face. The man saw it coming quickly and immediately sidestepped out of the way, allowing the soft cushiony pillow to fly past his face and be sent out of the open window. "…You're getting that." Kiyomaro said weakly, not wanting to move from his now comfortable position on the bed.

Dufort snorted and walked over and laid down on top of the teenager, successfully turning the teenager's face bright red on contact.

"Wh-what are you doing…?"

"I'm tired, too. I'm going to sleep with you, too. Is that a problem?"

"I-I guess not…but get the damn pillow first!"

"You threw it outside; why do I have to go and get it?"

"Because you were the target! If you hadn't dodged it, I'd still have an extra pillow to make me more comfortable!"

"Fine. Then I'll replace that precious extra pillow of yours that you love so much." Ignoring the teenager's shouts of protest, he lifted Kiyomaro up over his head with ease(why the hell was he so damn light…?) and laid down on the bed himself, bringing the teenager back down with him and laying him on his stomach.

"…I guess this isn't so bad," Kiyomaro admitted, sighing in his position at the bottom of Dufort's neck. "…But I still want that pillow."

"Well, you have a new one. Deal with it."

"…But my old pillow was softer."

"You'd better be quiet or else you aren't going to have an extra new pillow at all."

"…Fine. I'll shut up now." Kiyomaro groaned and wrapped his arms around the man before drifting off into a deep sleep. Dufort, being bored and not having fallen asleep yet, started to poke the teenager's side, not caring if he woke him up or not. Kiyomaro didn't react at all to the pokes in his side, though his eyes did twitch a few times.

"Hold on, Gash, I'll just be right back. I need to go get that-holy shit!"

"…What?"

Zeon had walked into the room, and his eyes were wide at the position the two were in. He immediately came to a quick solution. "You two didn't…didn't…"

"No. Do you think we're naked?" Dufort asked quite bluntly.

"Augh!" Zeon covered his eyes, trying to get the images out of his head. "Just-just…don't do anything!" He then ran out of the room with his eyes still covered, completely forgetting the item he even came for.

"…Zeon, where's the-"

"Not now, Gash!"


	51. Above

**A/N: This is more focused on Gash and Zeon, since I've kind of been neglecting them for the past few chapters, aheh…**

**And this will be a twoshot one. This will be continued in tomorrow's chapter!**

**Prompt: Above  
Words(without A/N): 1265  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

Gash was the ruler of Makai; that was a given obvious. However, not many demons knew that he most likely would have failed within the first hour if his twin brother Zeon weren't there to help him with the paperwork.

They were above the rest; they were royalty.

Gash did not like doing the paperwork. It wasn't that it was hard or anything, it was just plain boring and time consuming. Most of the things the papers covered were things like laws, and the rules of being the new ruler of Makai. It was tiring; he reviewed all of that with Earth already, why did he have to go over them all again?

Luckily Zeon, being the 'nice' and 'caring' older twin brother that he just was, had agreed to doing half the paperwork for him so that he could go out to play with his friends. Usually, doing them all by yourself all at once would take about four hours straight, and they had school in the mornings so there just wasn't any time at all to play with his friends. But if Zeon had cut the workload in half, Gash could go straight to his friend and have fun, and would be able to come home with most of the paperwork done for him. Zeon had said he would do half the work, but he always ended up doing most of it.

Even though they ruled the entire demon world together, Zeon couldn't help but feel jealous of the others, of Gash's friends. They were able to roam outside and play and have fun and all that while he and his twin brother were stuck inside dealing with chores and a stack of papers to sign. The people had all the freedom while the king was locked inside the palace, having to do all of the work. It just wasn't fair.

But when he had complained to Gash about it, his twin golden brother just simply laughed it off and told him to stop thinking about things like that and just have fun. But that was just it. He couldn't have fun when he was supposed to be inside signing papers. Was it his job to make everyone else happy? No, it wasn't. It was Gash's job. But Zeon's job was to make Gash happy, and staying inside all the time wouldn't do anything to save his happiness. So he offered to do most of the work for him. But was his own happiness worth sacrificing just to make his brother's life easier? He started to question it.

But once he looked outside and saw his brother smiling happily and running around in circles with his friends and taunting the ever so coward Kyanchome, Zeon decided that it was worth it just to see his brother smile. Because Gash was the most important being in existence to him, and he would do anything to make him happy. He silently decided to continue doing what he was doing now, in order to just see his brother smile and to continue smiling.

…Until one day where he became sick.

It wasn't common for demons to get sick; in fact, it was extremely rare. And whenever a demon did get sick and catch a cold, it was either a 24 hour bug, or a grave illness. Zeon wasn't sure which of the two he had, other than the fact that he was sick and therefore could not do his brother's paperwork for him.

He had tried to get up and do the paperwork, but he couldn't even take two steps before falling over, breathing heavily. His brother was most likely working on the paperwork right now, while he was stuck with his face implanted in the floor. Four hours later, his golden twin brother had finally entered the room and found his brother off the bed and as stiff as a board on the ground. He quickly rushed him back to the bed.

The next day, Zeon was feeling even worse, so he assumed that it wasn't a 24 hour bug and that he would most likely die from the illness. However, he wasn't scared or afraid in the slightest. Years and years of harsh training had also taught him true strength, and he wasn't afraid to take death head on, as he was demonstrating right now.

Gash, Tio, Kyanchome, and even that horse demon Umagon Zeon didn't like so much were surrounding him on the bed, asking him if there was anything, anything they could do for him. But…they couldn't, could they? Because demons getting sick was such a rare case, there wasn't a cure for them. Zeon would most likely die. And even if he wasn't afraid of the fact that he was dying, he was afraid of what would happen after he passed on. What would happen to Gash? His golden twin brother can't stand the pressure of being the ruler of Makai alone. He would give out to all the work and pressure the next day. And then what would happen?

Zeon didn't have much more time to think as he found his vision getting blurrier and blurrier by the second. He wasn't about to die yet; it was just that he was awake the whole night, and now his body was finally giving in to some much needed rest.

…Or so he thought.

Apparently the others had thought that he had given in to death, and were slowly walking out of the room while holding back tears. Gash was the only one that had stayed behind, and he absolutely refused to let his brother die like this. If his brother had to die, he knew that Zeon would rather explode in a burst of fireworks. That was a much better and cooler way to die, rather than some damned disease that had sprung up on them out of nowhere.

He then remembered something in the back of his mind; something that could possibly cure Zeon. But he didn't have much time left, did he? No. Zeon's death was coming faster and faster, so he had to hurry up as fast as he could. Gash had been working on it for the past few months, and he knew that it wasn't anywhere near ready. But if it were to save his brother's life, he had to try it out now. If it didn't work, then at least he could live with knowing that he at least tried to save his brother.

The ruler grabbed Zeon and placed him on his back and quickly ran out of the room and down the many flights of stairs as fast as he possibly could without his twin silver brother sliding off his back. He continued to run down until it was completely dark and it was hard to see a thing. However, the slight hum of a machine was able to be heard, so he used that as his source of determination and continued to run down the flights of stairs, the humming growing louder and louder with each step.

Now he was completely engulfed in darkness, but he knew exactly where he was. One look around, and he saw a few lights in circle formations surrounding something. That something was the thing to save his brother's life, and he knew it. He ran closer to it and inspected it as well as he could in the dark. Gash accidentally pressed a button and the machine stirred completely to life, and a bright light engulfed them both.

When the light died down…they were both gone.


	52. Below

**A/N: Congratulations to SilentTears2662 for getting the 100****th**** review! 8D -throws you a Gash plushie-  
**

…**I've never had a hundred reviews on any of my stories before. Yay! 8D**

**Prompt: Below  
Words(without A/N): 742  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

When the light had finally faded from Gash's eyes, the first thing he did was check his brother. Zeon's breathing had seemed to have gone back to normal; compared to the quick and labored breaths he was taking back at Makai. Gash smiled; he would be alright. That was when it struck him that he wasn't in Makai anymore.

He looked around, and noticed the plain trees without yellowtail or any kind of extravagant fruit on the branches. Did the machine actually serve his purpose? Was he really where he thought he was?

A groan coming from beneath him caught his attention, and the ruler of the demon world looked down to see his brother rising from the ground; feeling much better.

"Where are we, Gash?" Zeon asked, looking around.

"I think…we're back in the human world." Gash answered, a bright smile on his face. Zeon didn't seem happy, but he didn't look angry either. Instead, his face had a…calm expression, as if he was slowly taking everything in.

"How the hell did we get here?"

"You know that machine that I guarded really heavily? That machine was the key to going back to the human world, but it's had so many failures before!" Gash seemed ecstatic, jumping up from his sitting position on the ground and running all over the place. "I can't believe it actually worked this time! It saved your life, Zeon!"

"…My life?" Zeon looked down at himself. "I guess I do feel better. But how in the world did coming back to the human world cure my illness?"

"I…don't know." Gash admitted, looking sheepish. "I just had a feeling it would work. Maybe the air of the palace was too much for you, or something. You hardly ever go outside. Maybe you just needed a breath of fresh, clean air, and-oh, who cares? You're cured!"

"…Gash." Zeon said slowly, rising to get on his feet. He looked stern. "Humans are worse than demons. They pollute the very air they live in. They're pretty much digging their own graves. I highly doubt this so called 'fresh and clean' air really cured me."

"Well, who knows? All that matters is that you're okay now! Oh, while we're back in the human world, why don't we go find Kiyomaro and Dufort?"

"Gash, I'm being realistic here! I don't get how-huh? Dufort?" At the mention of his old bookkeeper's name, Zeon seemed to completely forget his confusion about his cure earlier. The silver haired twin demon allowed a small smile to cross his face. "I guess we can go find them." But his smile was quickly replaced by a scowl. "But wait. We don't even know where we are on this planet. We could be in America or Switzerland or something!"

"…What's America?" Gash asked, looking confused. Zeon slapped his own face in annoyance.

**OoO**

"No, you may not eat my ice cream!"

"And why not? It's not like you're eating it, anyway. You're too busy doing homework. I say just leave it and do more important things."

"Like what?"

"Like trying to get this ice cream back before I eat it."

"Dufort!"

Even from outside the house, the twin royal demons could hear their old bookkeepers perfectly. Zeon whistled, quite surprised.

"Lucky for us that they're actually at the same place at the same time, huh Gash?" He was not answered as Gash immediately burst through the door and started rampaging through the house. Zeon smiled and thought it looked fun. He followed in his younger brother's steps, but breaking as many things as he could along the way.

"What the hell?" A young male voice cried out. "Dufort, go downstairs?"

"What if it's a murderer?"

"It's better if it's you, than me. Now go!" Dufort was pushed out of the room and before the man could get back up, the teenager had closed the door and locked it. Unfortunately for him, Gash had finished his sprint up the stairs and did not see Dufort at all in his path, completely running over the man.

Zeon pieced together what had happened and snickered. He decided to simply walk the rest of the stairs and savor his 'grand entrance' as much as he could. The silver twin demon finally reached the top of the stairs just in time to see Gash burst through the teenager's door and run into the room. Zeon chuckled and turn to his shocked bookkeeper.

"We're home!"


	53. Incalculable

**A/N: Today, I tried one of those '100 words only' things. Yeah. Let's see how that turned out.**

**Prompt: Incalculable  
Words(without A/N): 100  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

Sometimes, Dufort really couldn't understand Kiyomaro all too well.

One second he'd be shouting at him for doing yet another perverted thing, and the next he'd be rolling on the floor for some odd reason that Dufort never really found out why but suspected it had something to do with Zeon. Then the teenager would go back to his usual arrogant self.

He was weird, to say the least.

The only things he knew for sure about Kiyomaro was that he was young, and he was a genius. That was it.

But he also knew that Kiyomaro was his alone.


	54. Wire

**A/N: Seems like the hundred word drabble isn't that bad. :'D So…I tried it again today. I am so, so, so sorry if you want longer chapters; school is pretty much eating my life right now and I can hardly find any time to actually work on this. ;-;**

**But…one short chapter is better than no chapter at all, right? -shot-**

**Prompt: Wire  
Words(without A/N): 100  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"Zeon…what the hell are you doing."

He wasn't really asking; and Zeon wasn't really going to give the human an answer. Zeon was under his desk, tangled by the many wires of Kiyomaro's computer.

"I…was trying to break your computer."

"But you instead got caught in wires?"

"…Yes." For once, Zeon seemed pretty nervous. Kiyomaro sighed and left the room without another word. "Hey!" Zeon shouted. "Aren't you going to help me?"

"Nope. You got yourself into that mess; now get yourself out of it."

"Damn it!" Zeon swore that he heard the teenager laughing with every step he took.


	55. Landslide

**A/N: Again, another really short drabble(though over 100 words this time!…by not much, aha…). I'll try to make tomorrow's one longer, I promise!**

**Prompt: Landslide  
Words(without A/N): 188  
Rating: K+  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"…What…is this…?"

"This is me beating you in a landslide." Zeon snickered at the teens shocked expression.

The two were both sitting down on the bed of the teenager, while Gash and Dufort were sitting on the floor, looking up at them while holding up signs. They had a small contest to see who would be the better persuader, trying to persuade the other two into doing whatever they wanted for the day. Zeon had gotten top marks from both of them while Kiyomaro didn't receive any.

"This is outrageous!" Kiyomaro shouted, throwing his hands up in there. "There is absolutely no way that Gash eating yellowtail with Zeon and Dufort dressing me up as a doll will satisfy everyone for the entire day! No! Way!"

"You'd be surprised, Kiyomaro." Zeon snickered, hopping down from the bed. "Well, even though it's still the morning, we'd better get started right away! I personally can not wait to get the day started."

"I can." Kiyomaro grumbled. Dufort, without saying a word, stood up and dragged the teenager off the bed and into the hallway.

Zeon snickered at the teenager's misery.


	56. A Beginning is the End is the Beginning

**A/N FROM 9.17.10-**

**Okay, for some reason, FF wouldn't work for me. It would take forever to load, and when it finally did load, it would simply say that there was an error in the servers or something. Every other site worked fine, but not FF for some reason. My friend also said that it wouldn't allow her to access the site, so it wasn't just me...**

In short, I couldn't upload the chapter yesterday.

To make up for that, I'm going to to attempt to continue on as normal and post two chapters today, this prompt and the next.

So...I'm sorry for that.

**ORIGINAL A/N: To tell you the truth, I was not looking forward to this prompt. The main reason is because I didn't know what to do with it. But…I guess I have a vague sort of idea now. ;-;**

**WARNING: Character death(implied).**

**(ADJH;AJS. First warning. ;-;)**

**Prompt: The Beginning is the End is the Beginning  
Words(without A/N): 1272  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Alternate Universe.**

**OoO**

The sun was gone.

Well, it wasn't really gone, but it was very dark outside, and it wasn't even at night. The stars were shining in the sky, but they seemed to have lost the sparkle that they used to have so many years ago. The moon was just a dull gray rock in the sky; it was no longer illuminating soft silvery wisps of light; instead, it seemed it had just been placed there for no specific purpose whatsoever.

It had been nighttime for the past twenty seven years.

Nobody had ever commented about the fact that there was no longer a daytime, but the reason for that was because there was simply nobody to point out that obvious fact.

The world was quiet, not a sound to disturb the silence. It was as if time itself had stopped, freezing the entire universe. But that wasn't true, because wind still blew across prairies and snow still softly fell from the sky a few months a year. Nobody ever commented on how cold they got, because there was nobody to comment on the freezing cold temperature the Earth now had.

In the summers, the world was boiling hot. But nobody complained. And the reason for that was because there was nobody to complain about it.

There hadn't been any tension or rivalries between the large powerful countries for the past twenty seven years. The reason for that? It was because everybody was at peace. There was no need to start a war. There was no need for bloodshed.

There was no need for emotions that could get in the way.

So the scientists had developed a way for humans to get rid of their emotions all those years ago; in an attempt to create an everlasting world peace. If nobody had any emotions, then nobody would ever get hurt. It was that simple in their eyes.

The only logical way for them to completely erase emotions from humans was to install a chip into their brain, but it wasn't that simple. In the beginning stages of the so called 'Operation: Emotion Removal' project, many people had died. Their heads were cut open to install the microchips, but the doctors never did learn how to properly and safely hold or operate on a human brain. They were just too fragile.

There were no survivors.

Of course, there were people against this plan. They wanted to keep their emotions; their emotions were what made them human. But the unfair scientists wouldn't take their opinions on the matter, and the people who opposed the operation were found murdered in gruesome ways a few weeks later. Nobody ever found the culprits.

They learned to keep their mouths shut, even if they were greatly opposed to the project.

What happened next doesn't need any explaining, now does it? They used more and more live humans to experiment on, and nobody lived through it. The scientists were getting aggravated, the adults were running low.

They chose to operate on the children and teenagers next.

No matter how much they screamed and begged and pleaded, the scientists refused to let them go. Whenever the government came in to help the children's case, the scientists would attempt to 'justify' it by saying that what they were doing was to help the entire human race later in the future. The government decided to leave them be after that.

And that was, literally, when all hell broke loose.

The world raged into yet another war; a very war that the scientists were so keen on preventing. Oh, the irony of how it was really _them _who caused the new war in the first place.

The world was divided into. Those who were for Operation: Emotion Removal, and those who were not. The adults did their best to protect their children from the war, but the scientists would find them and take them as prisoners, and eventually new test subjects.

The war reached every single corner of the world; and not a single human being alive did not know about the war. Nobody was undecided, they were either for the operation, or against it. It seemed as if the people who were against the operation had the advantage because of their sheer numbers, but the people for the operation caught up with them by the high tech weapons the scientists had developed.

The war had lasted for eight years.

Then it all just suddenly stopped.

The world was quiet.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

And the last two people standing, the only ones left alive in the entire world, fell to the ground in a stumble, both of them with gaping holes in their chests.

In the end, the people against the operation won.

Their emotions were never removed.

The scientists never figured out a safe method to implant the microchips.

But it was all at the cost of the world.

Not a single organism was left alive; all killed off in the epic war that had occurred twenty seven years ago.

But then something stirred beneath a pile of boulders. A skinny arm had hung off of the topmost rock, and the rock in question suddenly fell off and crashed into a thousand sharp pieces once it impacted the earth. Something rose from the top, and he took in the world around him.

Many corpses littered the world; there was nobody to clean them up. Twenty seven years after the war had ended, the smell of blood and smoke still filled the air and nearly suffocated him.

He weakly lifted up his hand to his head and a surge of memories crashed into his mind all at once. He remembered. The only question was: how was he still alive?

He looked around; the war had ended decades ago. He had been unconscious for the entire time. There was no way that he was still alive. Maybe he was a ghost, coming back to remember the world he left from.

But then, shouldn't there be about a million other ghost like people with him? There was no one else around, and it was deadly quiet.

He let out a shaky sigh, and his voice was raspy and throaty. That's right. He hadn't spoken for twenty seven years; his voice was useless now.

"Aah…eeh…." He moaned, trying to come up with anything of a coherent sentence. Where were Gash and Zeon? Oh, that's right. They were found a dragged away by the scientists so long ago. Luckily, he and his lover were never caught.

But where was his lover? He was no where in sight. The teenager tried rising to his feet, but immediately fell back down on the hard rock, his legs having nearly no muscle at all in them. He hadn't eaten in decades. He hadn't spoken in decades. He was better off dead.

But then something caught his eye, and he saw a rock to the side of him rumbling. The rock had fallen off and crashed into the ground below and shattered, much like the one on top of him did just minutes ago. Something, or maybe even someone?, had risen from what seemed to be the dead and looked just as confused as he was.

The teenager instantly recognized the new person as his lover from so long ago. He never did talk much…

Instead of trying to talk and fail, he merely just smiled, stretching his lips so that they started to bleed, but he didn't care. Maybe he could restart his own world. It would be quiet, but he didn't care.

He wouldn't have to share it alone.


	57. Door

**A/N: As promised, here's the second prompt for today!**

**Prompt: Door  
Words(without A/N): 446  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: Faudo spoilers. Manga. Though this has been mentioned in earlier chapters. But…I ended up mentioning it again, aha.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

This is my door, and nobody may enter it."

"…What?"

"This is my door, and nobody may enter it," Zeon repeated, this time slowly. "Are you deaf, human? Don't make me repeat myself again."

"I heard you the first time," Kiyomaro groaned, irritation obvious in his voice. "I'm just asking you why you're standing in front of my door."

"This isn't your door anymore!" Zeon shouted, and the teenager took a step back in shock. "This is my door; I claimed it. Nobody may enter it. Except for Gash. Because Gash is awesome. And you're not." Kiyomaro chose to ignore that last part.

"What about Dufort?"

"Dufort's scary. He can enter whenever he wants to, too."

"What the hell, Zeon? That's the door to my room!"

"Well, you're just going to have to find another room to sleep in, now aren't you?"

"No way! This is my house; I can have you kicked out at any given moment!" Zeon pretended he was hurt and clutched his chest.

"Aw, but that that would break my poor brother's heart. And if his heart breaks, then your arm will. And possibly your other arm. And most likely your leg. And definitely your other leg. And also, your neck."

"Idiot, if you snapped my neck, I would die."

"I knew that. I honestly would have killed you a long time ago, but Gash for some reason seems to really like you quite a bit. And, as to not anger my sweet innocent little brother, I have allowed you to live. Now get down on your knees and worship me and the ground I walk on, human."

"What the hell, Zeon? There is no way that you are the only reason I am still alive!"

"Well, you did die before."

"That! Wasn't! You! Who! Killed! Me!" Kiyomaro shouted, anger covering his voice. This was getting really tiring. "You did not kill me; Riou did! Now get out of my damn way, or I will kick you into the door and smash you both into billions of pieces!"

"…Don't make threats ever again."

"And why not?" Kiyomaro growled.

"Because they sound weird coming for you." The teenager groaned and nearly slammed his forehead into the wall.

"You know what, whatever. Just let me through. Please. I need to get to my room. I promise not to bother you for the rest of the week if you listen to me this one time."

"No can do, sorry. That would be in violation of the one and only rule of the door that is claimed as Zeon."

"And what rule is that?"

"'This is my door, and nobody may enter it.'"

"Oh, come on!"


	58. Enemy Gate

**A/N: Prompt Fifty Eight~ Six more prompts left!**

…**I can't believe that this story is almost over. ;-;**

**Prompt: Enemy Gate  
Words(without A/N): 1097  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

He stood there, in front of the door that separated him from the one he loved. Sure, he could easily just grab hold of the doorknob and simply walk in, but there was something stopping him.

Would his love even want to see him?

Dufort wasn't at all entirely sure why he was so nervous; usually he'd just do things without giving it a second thought(other than those questions his answer talker would automatically answer him on, of course), but this time, his mind was absolutely refusing to allow his body to just open the door and walk in.

Zeon seemed to notice his bookkeeper's hesitance and was about to shout something at him, only to have Gash pull him back. When the silver haired demon looked at his twin brother, the golden haired twin simply shook his head, denying his brother's request to go knock some sense into the older man. Zeon groaned, but he held back all the same.

His hand switched as he tried to force himself to just throw open the door. He heard his demon tap his foot impatiently, but he did his best to ignore him. After all, this was pretty serious, wasn't it?

"Oh my God, Dufort!" Zeon shouted, unable to take the silence any longer. "Just open the damned door so I can laugh in his face about how the reason he's even in here is because he was being an idiot!"

"Zeon…" Gash sighed, it looked like his brother decided not to take his advice after all, and he just had to barge in. This was Dufort's moment, and Zeon had just simply shattered it into a million pieces. Way to go, Zeon.

"This is serious, Zeon." Dufort said sternly, narrowing his eyes dangerously at his demon. Zeon flinched, but he didn't back down. He instead responded with a glare of his own.

Gash stood in the middle of everything, unsure of what to do. He had advised Zeon not to interrupt Dufort, but of course his brother just had to go and ignore it. The golden haired twin sighed and decided not to get caught up in anything and just leave the two alone. He didn't want to have to choose sides.

"Just open the door." Zeon growled.

"I was going to." Dufort growled back, irritation lacing his voice.

"Then do it faster; we don't have all day to do this, you know."

"Fine."

As suddenly as everything started, it just ended. Just like that. Gash sighed in relief, but then again, he couldn't even begin to image Zeon and Dufort fighting with each other. It was just too weird; they usually got along. Or rather, Zeon would talk and scold his human partner about everything he did while Dufort would never give a response. Their partnership was usually like that. Gash noted that Zeon once told him that Dufort started to speak a lot more after meeting Kiyomaro.

The sound of a door opening broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see that Dufort had finally opened the door separating the three of them from the other person on the other side. In less than a second, Dufort was gone. Gash blinked before realizing that the man had probably just dashed to see his lover.

"What the hell, Dufort?" Zeon scoffed once he took notice of his bookkeepers absence. He sighed and walking in the room, Gash following him.

"Oh, look. You brought him along."

"Actually, no. He brought himself along." Dufort sighed. "Something about laughing at you."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that, actually. So I'll do that right now." Zeon said before a triumphant grin crossed his face. "Ha!"

Kiyomaro rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"So…" Gash decided to step in before Zeon taunted his bookkeeper more. "How long are you staying here, Kiyomaro?"

Kiyomaro sighed. "I…have no clue, really."

"You wouldn't be in here if it weren't for me." Dufort said under his breath, but the teenager heard him and lightly hit his head with his free arm.

"Oi. It's not your fault. I should've moved."

"No duh." Zeon scoffed. "You were just standing there like an idiot before-Boom! Ahaha."

"Zeon." Gash frowned, but his silver haired brother continued on laughing anyway.

"Whatever." Kiyomaro sighed. "It's really boring in here. I can't even feel my arm."

"…What if I poke it?" Zeon asked. Kiyomaro shot the demon a menacing glare.

"You do that, and I will kill you when I get out of this damned place."

"That's no fun, usually you'd be screaming at me right about now." Zeon sighed, obviously bored. Gash noticed that as well; Kiyomaro wasn't usually as patient as he was being right now.

"Eh, really?" Kiyomaro asked, not expecting an answer. He didn't get one. "Oh well. Guess being locked in here each boring day made me more patient. I can't wait to get out of here."

"Even so, you'd still have to wear a cast around your arm." Kiyomaro glared at Dufort.

"Shut up."

"Oh, Gash!" Zeon said suddenly, turning to his brother. "When we get home, how about we go into Kiyomaro's room and completely destroy everything?" Gash caught on to what Zeon was trying to do, and started smiling and nodding eagerly.

"Unuu! That sounds like fun! We're going to go break Kiyomaro's room, aha!"

"Oi!" Kiyomaro shouted. "Don't do that! When I get out of here and see that my room is ruined, I'll freaking kill both of you!" The twin demons smirked.

"Yay, it worked." Zeon said smugly. Kiyomaro sat with a blank expression on his face.

"…What worked?"

"Zeon wanted to hear you yell at him." Gash said, chuckling a bit.

"Eh, yeah. It's no fun if you talk to me as if I'm not the person who pretty much taunts you on a daily basis and causes most of your stress. That's why I do it. I like annoying people."

"You're telling me." Kiyomaro growled.

"Ahaha." Gash laughed. "It's kind of boring without Kiyomaro at the house. It's always fun to watch him yell at Zeon and run around the house."

"Gehh, we'll do that after I get out of here, whenever that may be. Okay, Gash?"

"Really? You're looking forward to me irritating you?" Zeon asked in disbelief.

"Sure, why not. It's much better than lying around in this hospital all day. Damn demon." Kiyomaro muttered. Dufort nodded; he absolutely hated the demon who landed the teenager in the hospital in the first place. Gash started nodding eagerly.

"Unuu! I can't wait. You better keep your promise!"


	59. Stone

**A/N: Five more prompts…**

**Prompt: Stone  
Words(without A/N): 663  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"So, tell me." Zeon said suddenly, leaning uncomfortably close to the teenager. "Are you and Dufort set in stone yet?" Kiyomaro's eye twitched as he processed the demon's question in his mind.

"…What?"

"Are you and Dufort set in stone yet?" Zeon repeated, leaning in even closer. Kiyomaro groaned and pushed the silver haired demon away from him with his hand.

"Why would you care?"

"I don't know, I'm just curious." Zeon shrugged his shoulders as if that would prove his point. "Just answer my question, or I'll ask Dufort."

"No fair. His answer will be painfully obvious." Kiyomaro frowned. Zeon snickered.

"Exactly. He'll say that you two are set in stone, then you'll come in out of freaking nowhere and deny that and say that you two aren't, and then he'll disagree with you, you two will fight, and that will provide entertainment for me."

"…And how will telling me about this plan to amuse yourself help you?" Zeon's face seemed to go blank, and it seemed like hours passed before he finally opened his mouth to speak again, even though it was just a few seconds.

"I…don't know," he said honestly before pouting. "Damn it, Kiyomaro. You just had to ruin my fun, now didn't you?"

"What fun were you talking about? You were only asking me a weird question!"

"Well, doesn't my question make you think about your future? What if you two break up sometime? Who knows, it could be tomorrow." Zeon shrugged.

"Lies." Kiyomaro scoffed. "I highly doubt Dufort would break up with me."

"I doubt that too," Zeon said before leaning him closer. Kiyomaro pushed him away again. "But he'd be devastated if you broke up with him. That is the more likely scenario, after all."

"That's not going to happen," Kiyomaro stated firmly, closing his eyes. "I wouldn't break up with Dufort. I'm still with him even after all the things he's done, or have tried to do, to me, aren't I?"

"What has he tried to do to you?"

"You know him and his perverted acts!" The teenager growled, opening his eyes again and glaring at the wall. "I'm just saying that even though Dufort is…well, Dufort…I won't break up with him, and-hey, wait. Where are you going?"

Zeon was trying to hold in his laughter before he gave up and started running away from the teenager and out the door. "Oh, nowhere," He said with a smile on his face. "Looks like we both got our answers, eh Dufort?"

"Wh…what?" Kiyomaro asked, confused.

The man he and the demon were talking about just mere seconds ago walked through the door with a neutral expression on his face. Zeon was talking to him excitedly for some reason while Kiyomaro was simply confused.

"There! You got your answer! Now you have to do your end of the deal!"

"What deal? What the hell are you two talking about?" Kiyomaro demanded.

"Well, Dufort was wondering if you would break up with him anytime soon, so he had me come and ask you. He was listening in that entire time. I made up that whole thing with the entertainment for me. So now that I gave Dufort his answer, he has to basically humiliate you, and then I get my entertainment for the day!" Zeon cackled.

"What the hell?" Kiyomaro shot up from the bed. "So this does have something to do with you being entertained!"

"Well, yes," Zeon admitted, shrugging his shoulders once more. "But in a different way."

"You little-!" Kiyomaro was about to march over to the demon and whack him a few times before Dufort caught him by the arm and started dragging him to the nearest bathroom while holding a dress. The teenager blanked; wondering when the hell Dufort had even taken that thing out. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged out of his own room. Kiyomaro glared at Zeon, who was still howling with laughter.

"I win, as always!"


	60. Bright

**A/N: Four more prompts…**

**And also, I'd like to apologize for the cheesiness of this chapter. Gehh. DD:**

**WARNING: Character death.**

**Prompt: Brigh  
tWords(without A/N): 947  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

The first thing he felt when he awoke was excruciating pain.

Next came the heat, and he could hear something crackling like fire. Something foul filled his nostrils, and he immediately crinkled his nose in a poor attempt to block out the horrible smell, but failed terribly.

The male immediately got up on his feet, just wondering what the hell that god-awful small was. His eyes shot open, and he immediately took in his surrounding areas.

Fire laced the bottoms of houses, or rather what remained of them. The foul smell of rotting flesh and smoke still stung his nose, and he nearly double over in pure disgust because of it. There were no moving people. Everyone who lived in the neighborhood was now sprawled out on the ground, having long since died.

Zeon just wondered one thing; what the hell had happened?

He didn't need to worry about Kiyomaro and Dufort being safe; because Kiyomaro had dragged Dufort off to Megumi's concert(which he most definitely did not want to go to) hours ago. Most likely they were still there. But then he and Gash had stayed back home with Suzume as their babysitter.

Suzume had ended up forgetting something and rushed back to her house, or so that's what she told them. She really grabbed her bike and rode quite far away just to meet her boyfriend Alishie, who was staying nearby for some reason Zeon did not know. The reason Zeon knew about Alishie(no matter how hard Suzume tried to keep him a secret) was simply because he was Zeon and Zeon knows all.

So that just left Gash and him at the house. The next thing he remembered was a very loud sound, then something hit the back of his head and his vision turned black. Then he woke up in what seemed to literally be hell on Earth. He didn't care about the many people who surrounded him now, though. He just needed to see if his brother was alright.

"Gash!" He shouted, jumping up and running around frantically. His nose was pretty much useless to him because the foul smell of the smoke and rotting decay was powerful, and he couldn't get around it. But if Gash was still around, then surely he would shout out for Zeon to find him. Then he would rescue him and run somewhere far away until officials showed up. "Damn it," he cursed. "Shouldn't they be here already? How long have I been out for?"

Zeon continued to search for his missing brother, and when he didn't hear any sort of response come from him, he began to panic. What if Gash was-? He shook his head. No way. Gash was a demon. A weak one, but still a demon. Even if these pathetic humans died, surely his brother must be one of the living? After all, he, Zeon, was still running about and very much alive, right?

A small hand caught his attention, sticking out of a large pile of rubbish. He quickly ran up to it and forced anything that was in his way to the side. The hand was slightly pudgy; and it looked like it belonged to Gash. Zeon forced a lump in his throat down. No way that's Gash. It's probably some other six year old. There were a lot of small children in this city, right?

He grabbed hold of the hand and pulled as hard as he could. The body the hand belonged to popped out rather easily, and he stumbled down the small hill littered with trash and debris. Zeon had his eyes shut closed; he wasn't ready to see who the hand belonged to just yet. But he had to, because if it wasn't Gash, then the real Gash would probably suffocating. What if he wasn't even near him? Reluctantly, he opened his eyes.

Two seconds later, he wished he hadn't.

Dull golden eyes stared back up at him, completely devoid of any life or light they once held. Even though the fires were still raging strongly, the boy's skin felt ice cold to the touch, as if all of his body heat were sucked out in one large vacuum. Familiar golden blonde hair softly splayed about his face, and Zeon couldn't help but to let loose a few tears.

This…was Gash, wasn't it…?

"G-Gash…" Zeon choked weakly. He wasn't the type of person to cry, hell, he'd rather die than show any sign of weakness, but this…but his own brother, the very same one he vowed to protect, was dead. "I…couldn't keep my promise to you…" he spoke softly, allowing more tears to stream down his face until they fell in a steady flow. "I promised to protect you no matter what…look at how much of a liar I am." Zeon tried to smile, but it came up looking as a grimace. He dropped the act not a second later.

"Gash…I'm sorry…"

His vision grew darker and darker; oh, that's right, he had inhaled a lot of smoke, hadn't he? So he was going to be reunited with Gash soon…yet…

"We probably won't see each other ever again," Zeon let out a shaky breath. "I've done so many horrible things in my life, so even if I die right now, I won't go to the same place as you are in right now." He started coughing in an attempt to expel the poisonous smoke from his lungs.

His eyes dulled, and he slumped over, and in mere seconds, his body grew ice cold, just as his brother's had. But right before his vision darkened forever, he muttered his final words,

"I hope you have fun there…"


	61. Stories

**A/N: Three prompts left! -gasp-**

…**And yes, I will continue to do a countdown. Because I'm also counting down until Friday. Because that's when the weekend starts. I'm exhausted, and it's only my third week of school! D:**

…**I don't know if I'm going to survive this year. Dx**

**Prompt: Stories  
Words(without A/N): 465  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

When he was just a little baby, Zeon had snuck into the large library in the palace and secretly read the books there, including the ones that were strictly off limits. He didn't care; he just wanted something to do to pass the time. He needed the break from his harsh training, anyway.

There was a book that told him all about the demon battle and how the next king would be chosen. He wasn't particularly interested in that though; all demons were told about it from birth. Zeon wasn't excited for it at all, even when it was only just two years away. He couldn't find it in himself to be excited for it at all.

The was a book about every single demon who had ever been born. The pictures in the book changed automatically once every five minutes to reflect the demon's current health. If the demon died, the picture would just show a picture of them from when they were the most healthiest. Each large page was dedicated to a single demon, and a new page was automatically added when a new demon was born. Not much knew about this book, but Zeon did. He would grab it and flip to the page where his damned brother was(and he growled at the fact that his own page was right next to him), and he would simply stare at his brother's picture as if it were to burst into flames if he kept it up.

Eventually, he got bored of the book and left it alone. He found a new one, buried deep away in the restricted section, and the harder the books were to find in there, the more valuable they were. That's what Zeon learned, anyway.

So he was naturally excited when he stumbled across a book he had never seen before. It wasn't nearly as big as the book that held records of every single demon who had ever lived, but it wasn't a small as a simply picture book, either.

So he decided to read it.

The topic didn't really interest him. Faudo, or whatever it was called. Why would something so boring be protected so closely? It was just the largest demon in existence, there was nothing else interesting at it. So what if it had the power to destroy both the human and demon world both in just a few blasts? It couldn't do anything if the seal that locked it remained intact.

He wasn't interested in it, and so he threw it away.

Two years later, when he had learned of Riou's plot of controlling Faudo to destroy the human world, he had smirked. Looks like that book he had read long ago wasn't for nothing, after all.

He could use this to his advantage.


	62. Chime

**A/N: I wasn't really expecting for anyone to want to know what happened two chapters ago, or wanting it from Gash's point of view. So…I'll do that now. 8D**

**Also, two prompts left!**

WARNING: Character death.

**Prompt: Chime  
Words(without A/N): 913  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

The first thing Gash felt when he woke up was searing pain.

It was hard to move, but he managed to get up on his feet and look around. Many people were running around, screaming for their lives while large fires licked the bottom of the neighborhood's houses. Fear had instantly welled up in Gash's heart, who would do such a thing?

A maniacal laughter, much more different than the comparing screams and shouts and cries for help, echoed in his ears and he turned around to locate the source of the voice; a little boy with short green hair with two streaks running down from each eye. Gash clenched his fists. So it was a demon.

"You!" Gash called out. It was a stupid move, but it was already too late to take it back, and the demon had already noticed him. Oh well, might as well keep going. "Why…why would you do such a thing?"

"Oh? Why, look at that, Mari. There is a very important demon standing in front of us, and I want you to show the utmost respect to him, okay?" The green haired demon talked to his bookkeeper casually. The girl's eyes were completely dulled out and hallow, as if she were being possessed. Gash gasped; she reminded him of the time when Zophise had taken away some innocent humans' free will and controlled them to his will. It sickened him.

The girl named Mari simply nodded her head as if in a trance. This merely served to fuel Gash's anger.

"Answer me!"

"Hm, is it like the king to be so demanding? I guess that's why you're the king, after all. You were an outcast back in Makai before the demon battle, then you saw the chance to become king, probably cheated your way in, fought as strong as you could, completely obliterated the remaining competition, and then worked your way to become the king so that you could have everyone serve you to your every beck and call. Of course; that's exactly the type of thing you'd do."

"Shut up!" Gash shouted. "I'm not like that at all! I won that battle fair and square; I didn't even want to hurt anybody! It was awful!"

"So you say," the demon said in a bored tone of voice. "If you really didn't want to hurt anybody, and if it was really that awful and horrible to you, why didn't you burn your book as soon as you got here? You knew what was going to happen, yet you stuck through till the end, anyway. That shows me that you really aren't as innocent as you seem."

"Shut up!" The king shouted once more. "I order you to stop these fires and to return to Makai immediately! Turn yourself in!"

"And why would I do that?" The demon asked, taunting him. "I have the king and his brother right where I want him; the last two demons close to the throne. Once you two are out of the way, I can fight my way up to the king's throne and then laugh at your pitiful graves. Oh wait, there won't be any graves for you two. There won't be anything left. As soon as you two are through, I'll put out the fires and clear away everything here. As if there was nothing ever here in the first place."

"Did you have to drag all of these innocent people into this?"

"Hm, now that you mention it, no. But I decided to do it just for fun, because it's no fun if I just killed you two alone. I decided to have all of your neighbors join your grave!"

"You bastard!" Gash shouted, and blindly ran at the green haired demon who started to smirk. His hand was raised, and before the king knew it-

"Rofarudo."

Flames shot out of his hand, and Gash managed to dodge it with his lightning fast reflexes. He didn't notice as the flames shot by his head and crashed into a still standing house, causing the rubble to fall entire on him, crushing him.

"I think that's enough." The green haired demon said triumphantly. "Even if he isn't dead right now, the weight will slowly crush him. Oh, how fitting. He fought so hard to be the king of Makai, and he did it, yet in the end, all of his work just caught up with him and suffocated him to death. Hm, yeah. That's fitting. Let's go, Mari."

The two left, leaving behind the demon trapped under the large pile of debris. Gash gasped for air as his supply was limited and quickly running out; he wasn't going to make it. Not with nearly the entire neighborhood already dead and Zeon missing. There was nobody to help him.

Suddenly, the sounds of the remaining screaming and the cackling of fire slowly started to fade away, and they were being replaced with calm, soothing chimes. Gash started to feel at ease, and stopped his feeble attempts at trying to breath.

The sound of the chimes were soothing, as if coaxing him to just give in; it had to happen sooner or later, anyway. Just get it over with now…

But a part of his mind wondered about Zeon and if he was okay, but the chiming noise continued to grow louder and louder before he couldn't even hear his own thoughts anymore.

His world slowly started to fade away, until…

Nothing.


	63. Laugh

**A/N: Okay, I want to say something today~**

**Please, please, PLEASE vote for Shyclone Chorus in the Chorus Battle!**

**To vote, go here-**

**http:/ /ytchorus . Forumotion . com/ ytchorus-anniversary-special-f30/chorus-battle-round-1-voting-t2382 . htm**

**(remove spaces)**

**Please vote for my chorus? X33**

**Prompt: Laugh  
Words(without A/N): 673  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

Zeon liked hearing his brother laugh.

It put him at ease, because his brother's laugh wasn't ear grating as Dufort's(whenever the man did laugh…), and he hardly ever heard Kiyomaro laugh around him. Gash laughed the most, and for that Zeon was grateful. It meant that his brother was happy and that there was nothing for him to worry about.

Gash liked hearing his brother laugh, as well.

Most of the time, Zeon only laughed because of Kiyomaro's pain. Gash didn't really like that, but he pretended to go along with his brother just to make him happy. Zeon liked hearing him laugh, and Gash knew that. He wanted his brother to be happy, and so he'd keep on laughing for him forever, even after they both were dead.

He loved him that much.

Dufort didn't care for hearing the twins laugh. They weren't that important to him. He liked to hear Kiyomaro laugh, however rare that may be.

Kiyomaro would, most of the time, be irritated at the man for his perverted ways. But Dufort knew better. He knew that Kiyomaro didn't really mind, or else the teenager would have already distanced himself from him as much as possible. Sure, Kiyomaro did whack him quite often and shouted at him, but that only fueled Dufort's urge to irritate the teenager even more. Kiyomaro was just so cute when he was angry, he though.

So he brought it upon himself to irritate Kiyomaro as much as possible. With Zeon around, that wouldn't be too hard.

Kiyomaro didn't really care for any of their laughter.

Dufort's was ear grating, and the man would only laugh when the teenager was dressed in something absolutely ridiculous like a maid costume. Zeon's laugh was a laugh that would only occur when he had unleashed a sort of hell upon the teenager, and things would usually end with a cat and mouse chase all across the house thanks to Zeon. Gash laughed often. Too often, in fact. He was such a happy little demon, and Kiyomaro didn't mind, he was glad that Gash was having the time of his life really, but the demon's laughter got a bit on Kiyomaro's nerves.

So he decided to just act like he usually did.

…Which is why he was absolutely confused one day when Dufort started poking him on the shoulder endlessly and Zeon was singing a song off key and making his ears bleed.

He smacked Dufort's hand off his shoulder and used his own hands to cover his ears tightly to prevent any more of Zeon's atrocious singing from damaging his already battered ears.

"Shut the hell up!" He shouted, but Zeon seemed to not have heard him, as the annoying demon continued to sing-well, more like shriek, actually. His voice had somehow seemed to have gone another three octaves higher than his previous singing voice, and Kiyomaro noted that the glass vase on the table was shaking violently, close to breaking.

Dufort simply shrugged and continued poking Kiyomaro's shoulder.

"Will you stop that?" He shouted to the man, who paid him absolutely no attention. Kiyomaro groaned and stood up and walked out of the room to the safety of his own.

…And of course Dufort just had to get up with him and continuing his poking of Kiyomaro's shoulder.

And to make matters worse, Zeon had walked out of the room with them and started following the two older males.

"Gahh! I can't freaking take this anymore! Gash! Where the hell are you?"

"Unuu, right here, Kiyomaro!" Gash shouted out of no where, popping up suddenly in front of the teenager, who would have fallen over in shock if it weren't for Dufort's quick reflex of catching him before he fell. "Uwooh, that looks like fun!" He then started to poke Kiyomaro's leg and started singing the exact same song as Zeon, but with his high voice, his singing was even more annoying than the silver twin's.

It was then that Kiyomaro decided that he hated his life.


	64. Hold

**A/N:_ PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE AUTHOR'S NOTE._**

**Well, this is it, everyone. The last prompt of the story. Chances are, you won't be seeing much more of me after this. I'm going to be taking a break, and knowing me, my break will last months. I'll probably only do one thing in my break, and that'll be uploaded a new Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni story. But yeah. I'm pretty obsessed with fandubbing songs right now, so yeah.**

**Also, if you haven't voted for Shyclone Chorus like I told you to in the last chapter, _PLEASE DO SO NOW! _My chorus is doing all we can to make it to round two, and yet we're still extremely behind. So please vote for us!**

**...With that said, I'm done here. This is the last prompt of the entire story, and I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you for sticking with me this entire way, because there is no way this prompts list would have been completed without you all. :)  
**

**Prompt: Hold  
Words(without A/N): 679  
Rating: T  
Spoiler Alerts: No spoilers.  
Verse: Manga Universe.**

**OoO**

"Dufort…what the hell are you doing?"

"Holding you."

"I can see that…my question is why."

"Not really, because you asked me what I was doing, and-"

"I get it!" the teenager snapped irritably. "You know what I mean. Why the hell are you holding me?"

"So you won't fall off."

"…Why would I fall off? We're on top of a hill. I can't 'fall off' of anything."

"Just in case."

"Just in case of what?"

The man chose not to answer him this time, and Kiyomaro groaned and decided to just stay where he was, which was snuggled between Dufort's firm arms. He felt like a little kid, being held like this. But there was no stopping Dufort once he had his mind set on something. And right now, his mind was set on keeping Kiyomaro from falling off the hill…no matter how impossible that may be.

"The sunset is really pretty!" Gash shouted, jumping up from his sitting position and staring straight at the sun. "The sky is pretty, too! With all of these reds and oranges and-oh is that a purple?-and pinks and-"

"Gash! Idiot! Don't stare too much at the sun, you'll go blind!" Kiyomaro managed to squirm somewhat out of Dufort's grasp and grabbed the demon, pulling him closer to himself. "That's a really stupid move, Gash!"

"Tch, maybe you weak, pathetic humans will go blind just by watching this gigantic star, but us demons can handle anything! I most certainly won't go blind just by looking at this thing!" Zeon shouted stubbornly and turned to stare directly at the sun.

"Ki-Kiyomaro," Gash started. "Aren't you going to grab Zeon, too?" He looked up just in time to see the sly and mischievous grin slowly spread across the teenager's face.

"Nope. I'd like to see how he'd react."

Five minutes later, Zeon had not even moved a millimeter from his spot. Kiyomaro began to grow impatient and started to doze off. Gash was watching his brother, worry imminent in his eyes. Dufort had long since rewrapped his arms around Kiyomaro and now had his head resting upon the teenager's own.

Zeon clapped his hands and finally turned on his heel to look at the four, his eyes closed. "I'll admit, my eyes sting quite a bit, but there's nothing to be worrying about." He opened his eyes and his smiled fell. "…Why is there a giant hole in my vision." It wasn't a question.

Kiyomaro had to cover his mouth to hide his snickers, which ended up being loud anyway. "I told you so! Looks like the so called 'invincible' Zeon isn't so invincible after all if he can't even stare at the sun for a while!"

"Why don't you try it, then!" Zeon shouted, his head feeling very light all of a sudden.

"Nah," Kiyomaro declined. "I'm not an idiot, unlike you. I know that'll make me blind."

"I'm going to freaking kill you!" Zeon ran blindly at the teenager, but Gash stepped in and wrapped his arms around his twin brother. "…Gash? Not that I mind, or anything, but why are you holding me?"

"I'm not holding you, I'm hugging you," Gash corrected. "And I'm doing it because Dufort is hugging Kiyomaro and I didn't want you to feel lonely."

"…Thanks, Gash." Zeon said, completely forgetting about his anger at the teenager.

"No problem! Now let's go home, it's getting kind of late!" Gash released his hold on his twin brother and ran off. Zeon was startled.

"H-hey! Get back here!" He started running off after him, and Gash called back;

'"I thought you were blind, Zeon!"

"Not anymore!"

"How the hell are you not blind anymore?" Kiyomaro shouted.

"Because I'm Zeon, that's why!"

"Get back here!"

Kiyomaro ripped himself off Dufort's grasp for the second time in ten minutes and started chasing after the demon while Zeon was chasing after Gash.

Dufort sighed and stood up, slowly walking to the others. He didn't worry about anyone getting hurt; it was as if they were invincible.

Besides, they'd forgive each other tomorrow, anyway.


End file.
